An Alternate Adventure
by zoeticValidation
Summary: Long ago, two races ruled over Earth: HUMANS and MONSTERS. One day, war broke out between the two races. After a long battle, the humans were victorious. They sealed the monsters underground with a magic spell. Unfortunately, over time the monsters grew hateful, and swore vengeance upon all humans. The result? UNDERFELL. [Cross-Posted on AO3]
1. Prolouge

**Author's Note: I'm officially obsessed with this game. I'm also obsessed with this AU I found. Basically, for those of you who don't know, Underfell is the alternate universe in which Frisk and Flowey are the only nice people in the Underground, and everybody else is evil and mean. (And humans seem to only throw away clothes from Hot Topic for the monsters to find.) I could never find any fanfiction that explained all of it, so I decided to try it myself. If I get something wrong, that's because it isn't clear what's supposed to happen in the AU. This first part isn't too long, only like 1,500 words, but the chapters will get longer after this. Enjoy!**

* * *

Long ago, two races ruled over Earth: **HUMANS** and **MONSTERS**.

One day, war broke out between the two races.

After a long battle, the humans were victorious.

They sealed the monsters underground with a magic spell.

* * *

 _Unfortunately, over time the monsters grew hateful, and swore vengeance upon all humans._

* * *

 **Many, many years later…**

 **MT. EBOTT**

You wake up in a bed of bright, golden flowers. You sit up and wonder how you survived your plummet down MT. Ebott. You assess your current situation. Your favorite blue and pink striped shirt is riddled with small holes and your worn out brown boots are scuffed in several places and on the verge of falling apart. Your pants are too far gone to be of any real protection. The torn jeans revealed the, still gooey, used bandage that you had wrapped around your leg earlier to stop the bleeding of a particularly nasty injury. The stick you picked up at the top of the mountain is still in an okay condition, although slightly shorter because the top of it had broken off. You look up above you and see a distant light casting a small glow in the dark cave below. You look ahead to a small corridor that must lead deeper into the cave. Even though this isn't what you planned for yourself when you trekked up the mountain, your curiosity gets the better of you and you stand up. Your leg still hurts, and you aren't feeling particularly determined to move forward, but you simply _have to_ know what lies ahead. So you pick up your stick, readjust your bandage and move to the next room.

You are immediately greeted by a yellow flower with a smile on its face. You briefly wonder whether you actually are dead, and the afterlife has flowers with smiles. However, as quickly as the thought comes, it goes. Your leg hurts too much for you to be dead.

The flower starts speaking to you. "Howdy! I'm Flowey. Flowey the Flower!"

You immediately relax. Flowey is pretty adorable after all, and in your ten years of experience, cute things generally didn't tend to hurt you. You can tell that Flowey is a boy; you've grown good at identifying people over the years because you have such a specific identity yourself.

Flowey is still smiling at you. "Hmm. You're new to the **UNDERGROUND** , aren't cha?" The yellow flower chuckles at you, but as you inspect him a little more closely, you notice that Flowey's laugh is a little forced. Almost as if Flowey's done this a few times before... Flowey continues. "Golly, you must be so confused. Someone ought to t-teach you how things wo-work around here." You did not miss how Flowey seems to stumble over his words near the end of his sentence. He seems shaken up over something.

"I guess little old me will have to do." When Flowey finishes, he looks down for some unknown reason, seeming solemn. Flowey's sadness lingers on his face as he turns and looks back up at you with a bittersweet smile. "Ready? Here we go!"

You suddenly feel the odd sensation of your heart literally thumping right out of your chest. A small, glowing, floating, red heart appears before you. You can feel it resonating with a strange inner power, and beating in time with your heart beat. The heart is contained in some kind of box which Flowey is looking at. Below the box are some words and numbers. It reminds you a bit of an RPG, where there's something showing your stats. You are at **LV 1** , and you have **20/20 HP**. An odd tune starts to play, like it should have been a happy melody, but for some reason it is slowed down and distorted into a melancholy song.

Flowey starts to speak again, this time with an underlying tone of sadness in his voice. "See that heart? That is your SOUL, the very culmination of your being." Flowey looks like he wants to be anywhere else but here. He isn't smiling anymore, he looks very sad. Flowey continues educating you about the Underground. "Down here, monsters l-like m-m-me will try and attack you and take your soul. They'll attack you with bullets like these:" A few sharp looking white pellets appear around Flowey. You decide that you don't like them at all. Flowey resumes his lesson. "You'll have to learn to dodge them if you want to stay alive in a fight." Flowey pauses for a second, as if having an internal argument with himself.

He looks back at you. "Are you ready?" You realize after a couple seconds, Flowey is actually asking you. You nod your head yes, and he nods back in response. "Move around! Dodge as many as you can!" The bullets head straight for your soul, so you maneuver around them without being hit. Flowey smiles at you a little bit. "Great job! You're a natural. Now, your soul starts off pretty weak: **0 ATK** , **0 DEF** , **0 INV** , a mere **20 HP**. But it can grow strong if you gain a lot of **LV**."

Confused, you quietly ask Flowey what **LV** stands for. He seems surprised to hear your voice for the first time. You're a little surprised you spoke too. "What's LV stand for? It actually stands for **LOVE**." You look at him incredulously, not believing that. Flowey sweat drops. "Well, LOVE is an acronym too, but I'll get into that later. Anyway, to gain LV, you have t-to… kill… monsters." Flowey's voice quiets down at the end. You don't like the idea of killing anything. You tell this to Flowey, but he doesn't seem to hear you.

Four rectangular orange buttons appear out of seemingly nowhere below your stats. The first button says **FIGHT** with a pixel art drawing of a sword in front of it. The next button says **ACT** with a picture of a few soundbars in front of it. The button after that reads **ITEM** with a drawing of… well, you're not exactly sure what it is. The final button says **MERCY**. The drawing in front of it is a simple X. You get the feeling that the MERCY button would be the one you use the most.

Flowey looks at you with a dark resignation in his beady eyes. "Well? What are you waiting for? Take a swing at me with your stick kid." Your soul appears at the FIGHT button. You hurriedly move your soul all the way to the MERCY option. You press it, and you have the option to Spare.

 **LV 1** **-** **HP 20/20**

 ***Flowey**

 **[FIGHT]** **[ACT]** **[ITEM]** **[*MERCY]**

 **MERCY:** ***Spare**

Flowey looks at you flabbergasted. "Hey! I told you to fight me! Listen to me carefully, the other monsters down here aren't nice like me. They don't want your mercy, they want your soul! You can only fight them! You have to know how if you want to survive down here." You choose to ignore Flowey.

 **LV 1** **-** **HP 20/20**

 ***Flowey**

 **[FIGHT]** **[ACT]** **[ITEM]** **[*MERCY]**

 **MERCY:** ***Spare**

Flowey looks at you angrily. "STOP THAT! Don't you get it?"

 **LV 1** **-** **HP 20/20**

 ***Flowey**

 **[FIGHT]** **[ACT]** **[ITEM]** **[*MERCY]**

 **MERCY:** ***Spare**

Tears spring to Flowey's eyes. "Don't you understand?"

 **LV 1** **-** **HP 20/20**

 ***Flowey**

 **[FIGHT]** **[ACT]** **[ITEM]** **[*MERCY]**

 **MERCY:** ***Spare**

Flowey starts to cry. "Down here… it's KI-KILL or B-BE KILLED." he said shakily.

 **LV 1** **-** **HP 20/20**

 ***Flowey**

 **[FIGHT]** **[ACT]** **[ITEM]** **[*MERCY]**

 **MERCY:** ***Spare**

"And…"

 **LV 1** **-** **HP 20/20**

 ***Flowey**

 **[FIGHT]** **[ACT]** **[ITEM]** **[*MERCY]**

 **MERCY:** ***Spare**

Flowey bursts into tears. "AND I **HATE IT**!" The sad yellow flower sobs out his frustrations. "The monsters down here, they're so m-mean and hurtful. I just can't stand it! Humans just like you have fallen down here, thinking that they could take on the monsters by fighting them all." Flowey looks at you with anger in his face. "You know where they are now? DEAD! They all died." Flowey looks back down and keeps crying. "These monsters, you can't make friends with them. But if you try to fight them, they'll kill you. There's no happy ending for anybody."

Even though you only met Flowey a few minutes ago, you feel bad for him. Your heart goes out to the little flower, figuratively and literally. Your soul floats up the box as you reach out to comfort him, trying to get near him. Flowey ends the fight, and your heart thumps right back into your chest. Flowey is still on the ground crying, so you walk up to him and pat his head. He looks up at you, and despite his tears he's smiling a little.

Flowey sniffs. You wonder how he can do that since he doesn't have a nose, but you don't question it. "So… what will you do now human?" You ponder Flowey's question. You suddenly have a great idea. You ask Flowey to come with you, and guide you out of the Underground. Flowey looks at you in disbelief. "Really? You actually want my help?" He looks hopeful. You nod your head and smile. Flowey brightens up. "Thank you so much! You won't regret this, I promise! Together, we can both get back up the surface." You like the sound of that. For a minute, you speculate about how you are going to move Flowey around. You think of a temporary solution.

You take off your boots, revealing your socked feet. Flowey looks at the socks with mild disgust, and mild curiosity. You then dig up the dirt under Flowey and place him and the dirt inside one of the boots to act as a makeshift flower pot. Flowey looks at you surprised. "Uh… thanks I guess." You smile. Flowey smiles back. You feel like the two of you are going to be great friends.


	2. The Ruins: Skipping the Tu-Toriel

**Author's Note: Why hello again! I'm having a lot of fun with this, and I got a lot of positive feedback. I'm just a little disappointed though, I got 8 favorites, 13 followers, and like 180 views the first day. But only 2 reviews. Well, I guess I shouldn't be complaining, but still, reviews really give me the DETERMINATION to keep a story going. So if you could drop a really quick review, it would mean a lot to me. Thanks Lucky and AnonymousEskimo for being my first reviewers!**

* * *

You hear footsteps that are quickly approaching. Flowey hears them too. "Oh no! That must be **Toriel**! We have to hide, quick!" Flowey is panicking. You briskly walk behind one the very convenient pillars that surround the entrance into the next area. You hear the footsteps in the the room that you are in. They stop. You and Flowey hold your breath. A very creepy tune plays. An angry and probably crazy voice says, "I could have SWORN I heard someone here!" before walking away. When the footsteps are completely gone, you come out from behind the pillar. You and Flowey calm down a little.

Flowey still looks scared though. "Okay, first order of business: Get in and _out_ of the **Ruins** alive, without running into Toriel." You nod. If Flowey thinks that Toriel is dangerous, you do to. You pick up your stick again, make sure that Flowey is comfortable in his boot, and carry on.

You are met with a sickeningly purple room that has two sets of stairs leading to another entrance. Flowey decides to speak. "We're going to have to be careful. The monsters in the Ruins are far from friendly." You advance forward. You look up at the entrance to the Ruins.

The shadow of the Ruins looms above, filling you with **DETERMINATION**.

You feel some kind of newfound power awaken within you. Your HP restores itself, and you feel something tethering you to this very moment in the space time continuum. The weird feeling of what you did lingers. Flowey looks at you with concern. "What's the matter?" You explain to him as best you can what happened. He frowns. "I think that you just… **SAVED**. Saving is a power that very determined beings have. Although, to be truthful, I've never met a human that could **SAVE**. If you were to… die, you could potentially reload your **SAVE** file and come right back to this moment in time. You would remember, but no one else would." As Flowey explains saving, you grow more and more curious about this power. Flowey frowns for a moment.

"...Actually, I might end up remembering too, because I used to be able to **SAVE** as well." You wonder why Flowey can't **SAVE** anymore. You choose not to pry.

You walk up the left staircase with the boot containing your friend in your arms. When you walk through the entrance, you see some buttons on the floor and a switch on the wall. A locked door is blocking your path to the next room. Flowey is staring at the buttons intently. "Hmm, I've seen Toriel do this puzzle before. You'll have to step on those four buttons, and then hit the switch to open the door." You follow Flowey's instructions and leaf gestures pointing to the right buttons. When you flip the switch, the door opens, leading to the next room. You smile at Flowey.

Flowey seems bothered by something though. "Uhh, before we continue any further, what is your name human? It's really weird calling you 'human' all the time." You tell Flowey that your name is Frisk. He laughs a little. "You know, for a second, I thought your name was Ch-" Flowey abruptly stops whatever he was about to say. "Let's just keep going. There's a sign on the wall, maybe you should read it."

So you do. The sign says, "Only the fearless may proceed. Brave ones, foolish ones. Both walk not the middle road." You consider yourself to be pretty fearless, so you walk down the middle road into the next room. The path turns to the right to a bridge that goes over some rushing water. Flowey frowns. "Darn Ruins, and its stupid puzzles!" He mutters. You walk ahead to a sign on the far wall that reads, "Stay on the path." You walk on the path with Flowey and see a switch on the left wall. You decide to flip it. ...Nothing happens.

You continue walking on the path, and across another bridge, there are two switches on the left wall. You activate the second switch, but nothing happens. You go to the first switch. When you trigger it, the spikes blocking the doorway went down. Flowey looks at you happily. "Good job! You figured it out without my help!" Together, you and Flowey move on.

In the next room, there is a training dummy waiting for you and Flowey. Flowey looks thoughtful. "Maybe you should practice fighting with the dummy, since it's the only enemy that can't hurt you." You walk up to the dummy, and enter a **FIGHT**.

 _ **You encountered the Dummy.**_

 **FRISK:** **LV 1-** **HP 20/20**

 ***Dummy**

 **[FIGHT]** **[** **ACT]** **[** **ITEM]** **[** ***MERCY]**

 **[MERCY]:** ***Spare Flee**

" _ **..."**_

 _ **Dummy stands around absentmindedly.**_

You wonder why nothing is happening, then realize that your enemy can't really do much. Now, you are stuck in a **FIGHT**.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1-** **HP 20/20**

 ***Dummy**

 **[FIGHT]** **[** **ACT]** **[** **ITEM]** **[** ***MERCY]**

 **[MERCY]:** ***Spare Flee**

 _ **Dummy looks like it's going to fall over.**_

Flowey yawns in exhaustion. He droops tiredly in his shoe. You pull at one of his petals to keep him awake.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1-** **HP 20/20**

 ***Dummy**

 **[FIGHT]** **[** **ACT]** **[** **ITEM]** **[** ***MERCY]**

 **[MERCY]:** ***Spare Flee**

" _ **..."**_

"THIS DUMMY ISN'T DOING ANYTHING!" Flowey yells. You shrug and continue your fight.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1-** **HP 20/20**

 ***Dummy**

 **[FIGHT]** **[** **ACT]** **[** **ITEM]** **[** ***MERCY]**

 **[MERCY]:** ***Spare Flee**

 _ **Dummy tires of your aimless shenanigans.**_

You and Flowey both gape as the dummy floats away.

 **You WON! You earned 0 XP and 0 gold.**

You are utterly confused, and Flowey is just as shocked as you are. "Well, that… was weird. Let's just move on and forget that ever happened." You agree with Flowey, and keep moving.

* * *

The path in the next room is very specific, and has turns in it that are highly unnecessary. You move past it to a little hallway with a sign on the wall. Before you can get close enough to the wall to see the sign, you feel the familiar sensation of your heart thumping out of your chest.

 **Froggit attacks you!**

Your soul seems glued to the outside of your sweater. Next to you, Flowey is freaking out. "Okay Frisk, don't panic! This is your first real fight! You should probably just flee, then you won't have to fight at all." Flowey appears to be reassuring himself more that he is reassuring you. You decide to **FIGHT** your way.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1-** **HP 20/20**

 ***Froggit**

 **[FIGHT]** **[** **ACT]** **[** **ITEM]** **[** ***MERCY]**

 **[MERCY]:** ***Spare Flee**

" _ **Ribbit."**_

Froggit doesn't respond to your sparing the way you want them to. Froggit attacks with a white frog that jumps at your soul. You have to quickly float away to avoid being hit by the frog. Flowey is slightly glaring at you. "You can't always spare enemies right off the bat! Froggits are complicated, you'll have to **ACT** a few times, then later you could spare it." You heed Flowey's advice your next turn.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1-** **HP 20/20**

 ***Froggit**

 **[FIGHT]** **[** ***ACT]** **[** **ITEM]** **[** **MERCY]**

 **[ACT]:** **Check *Compliment Threaten**

 _ **Froggit feels that you are babying it, and becomes frustrated with you.**_

Froggit attacks you again. This time, Froggit sends flies your way, and you aren't able to deftly dodge them all. After Froggit's turn, you decide to try a different approach.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1-** **HP 18/20**

 ***Froggit**

 **[FIGHT]** **[** ***ACT]** **[** **ITEM]** **[** **MERCY]**

 **[ACT]:** ***Check Compliment Threaten**

 **6 ATK, 7 DEF. This enemy respects those who can intimidate it.**

Well that was a waste of a turn.

Froggit attacks you with the giant white frog again, and you aren't able to dodge in time. Flowey is biting the tips of his leaves the way that a nervous person might bite their nails. There's only one thing left that you can do in this fight.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1-** **HP 13/20**

 ***Froggit**

 **[FIGHT]** **[** ***ACT]** **[** **ITEM]** **[** **MERCY]**

 **[ACT]:** **Check Compliment *Threaten**

 **You demand Froggit to give you all of its lunch money. Froggit respects your threat, and by extension you.**

Froggit didn't attack you this time. You feel that this battle is finally over.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1-** **HP 13/20**

 ***** **Froggit**

 **[FIGHT]** **[** **ACT]** **[** **ITEM]** **[** ***MERCY]**

 **[MERCY]:** ***Spare Flee**

 **You WON! You got 0 XP and 4 gold.**

You pick up the gold and put it in your pocket. Flowey looks at you astounded. "Did… did you just get a Froggit to like you?! How did you do it?!" You shrug. You pick up Flowey's boot and look at the sign on the wall. "The western room is the eastern room's blueprint." That looks straightforward enough. You move forward to see a platform full of spikes. You don't like it one bit. Flowey lights up. "I get it! You have to follow the path on the floor in the other room! That's the only way to get across." Flowey looks very pleased with himself upon figuring out the puzzle before you did.

You go back to the eastern room and study the peculiar path, even walking on it a few times to get used to it. Then you go back to the spiked platform and carefully make your way across.

After five full minutes, you've finally made your way across safely. Flowey is beaming at you. "Haha! I knew it. Let's move to the next room shall we?" You shall. Through the next door is a long, _long_ hallway. You start to move, but then you hear footsteps far behind you.

Flowey goes stiff. "Oh my god! It's Toriel again! We have to hide, run to the end of the hallway and hide behind that pillar!" You quickly proceed to run as fast as your little legs could carry you, but you keep slipping and falling because your socks would slide on the slick floor. Flowey keeps encouraging you the whole way. "You can do it!" "Don't worry about falling, as long as you get back up!" "Come on Frisk!"

Flowey's friendly encouragement makes you determined to get to the pillar. When you are close enough, you dive behind it and make yourself as small as possible by curling around Flowey. The footsteps are getting closer, you can feel it. Flowey whimpers a little. The footsteps stop right in front of the pillar, and you and Flowey stop breathing for a moment. A voice huffs in irritation. "Perhaps I _am_ going crazy down here. I keep hearing voices and footsteps, yet I never find anyone!" There is a sigh. "It's been so long since a human child has fallen down here and visited me, I'm so alone." After another sigh, footsteps can be heard, getting quieter. When they are gone, You and Flowey leave from behind the pillar. You look at Flowey suspiciously. You tell him that Toriel doesn't seem so bad.

Flowey looks at you like you're crazy. "What, are you kidding me? Toriel is a homicidal maniac! She must have known that we were behind the pillar, she knows that we're here! She said that stuff to get us to feel bad and come to her!" You still aren't entirely convinced that Toriel is evil and insane. But you nod your head at Flowey anyway. Flowey looks worried. "We have to keep moving. Toriel is probably in her house by now, waiting for us. To get out of the Ruins, we'll have to pass through **Home**. That might be difficult, but I'm sure that we'll figure something out."

You and Flowey leave the corridor and walk into a room where the Froggit you fought earlier is sitting on the ground, looking at you. Flowey whispers not to make direct eye contact with it, but you ignore him and talk to the Froggit. Flowey facepalms. (More like face leaves.)

"Ribbit, ribbit. (Excuse me, human. I have some advice for you about battling the monsters. If you **ACT** a certain way or **FIGHT** until you almost defeat them...They might not want to battle you anymore. If a monster does not want to fight you, please...Use some **MERCY** , human.) Ribbit." You are surprised that you are able to understand the Froggit, but you do not ponder it for too long.

The Froggit had more to say. "Ribbit. (The monsters of the Underground are not kind and merciful, because that was the way humans were to us. But if you show us **MERCY** , I'm sure they'll react like I had. Remember, even the cruelest of monsters have good within them.) Ribbit, ribbit." You smile at the Froggit and pet it. At this point, you aren't even shocked as it starts to to purr. Flowey is looking very gobsmacked at the moment. Behind the Froggit is an entryway to a different room. You make up your mind and go there instead of progressing.

Through the entrance is a small room with a little marble table. On top of the table is a bowl of candy. Next to the bowl is a sign saying, "take one." You take a piece of candy. Flowey gasps. "Oh my god, Monster Candy! You have to take more of that stuff, they're probably the only healing items that you'll see for a while." Even though Flowey is probably right, you want to leave well enough alone, and respect the sign.

When you walk out of the room, Flowey groans. "Come on Frisk! Monster food isn't like human food. Human food goes to your organs, and makes you less hungry, but that's all it does. Monster food goes straight to your soul, and heals you! A single piece of monster candy heals **10 HP** , and serves as a hearty dinner!" That sounds pretty good to you, so you completely throw away your old morals and go back for more candy. You take another piece of candy, and your conscience creeps in the back of your mind. You are disgusted with yourself. You take another piece of candy anyway and you feel like the scum of the earth. You take one last handful of candy, but you took too much, and the bowl drops to the floor. Flowey looks pleased with you. You frown at him.

When you walk out of the room, you see a pile of leaves and quickly jump into it. Jumping into leaf piles was something you never got to do on the surface. Your parents always got really mad at you when you did.

Playfully crinkling through the leaves fills you with **DETERMINATION**.

You feel your soul tethering itself to this moment and realize that you just created another **SAVE** file. You stand up and brush the leaves off of you and Flowey. Flowey shakes his head at your childishness. You and Flowey go down and to the right so that you can leave the room, but you encounter another monster on the way.

 **Whimsun approaches confidently!**

The angry looking, moth like creature looks ready to fight you. You are intimidated by it. You direct your soul to the **ACT** button.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1-** **HP 13/20**

 ***Whimsun**

 **[FIGHT]** **[** ***ACT]** **[** **ITEM]** **[** **MERCY]**

 **[ACT]:** ***Check Console Terrorize**

 **7 ATK, 3 DEF. This monster has no regard for anybody's feelings or concerns.**

Whimsun attacks you with a swarm of moths. You are hit several times. Flowey looks very concerned over your well-being. You know that you need to heal, so you use an item this time.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1-** **HP 5/20**

 **[FIGHT]** **[** **ACT]** **[** ***ITEM]** **[** **MERCY]**

 **ITEM:** ***Mon. Candy**

 **You recovered 10 HP!**

Whimsun attacks again, with more moths that surround you and your soul. Flowey is calling out advice and warnings but you're too focused on not dying to care.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1-** **HP 15/20**

 ***Whimsun**

 **[FIGHT]** **[** ***ACT]** **[** **ITEM]** **[** **MERCY]**

 **[ACT]:** **Check *Console Terrorize**

 **Whimsun is already feeling their best, consoling does nothing.**

" **Haha! I'm so gonna enjoy beating you up!"**

You are beginning to tire of all this dodging. Your moves become sluggish, and you get hit a little bit. Flowey is screaming like a little baby.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1-** **HP 9/20**

 ***Whimsun**

 **[FIGHT]** **[** ***ACT]** **[** **ITEM]** **[** **MERCY]**

 **[ACT]:** **Check Console *Terrorize**

 **Whimsun's bravado falters at your harsh treatment. Whimsun's DEF dropped!**

You start to see the pattern of the moths encircling you. You swiftly dodge them like you're an MLG Pro.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1-** **HP 9/20**

 ***Whimsun**

 **[FIGHT]** **[** ***ACT]** **[** **ITEM]** **[** **MERCY]**

 **[ACT]:** **Check Console *Terrorize**

 **Whimsun cowers in fear. Whimsun is too scared to fight you anymore.**

" **P-p-please l-leave m-m-me alone!**

You are able to Spare Whimsun now, but you don't want the battle to end with Whimsun terrified of you.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1-** **HP 9/20**

 ***** **Whimsun**

 **[FIGHT]** **[** ***ACT]** **[** **ITEM]** **[** **MERCY]**

 **[ACT]:** **Check *Console Terrorize**

 **You tell Whimsun that you only scared them to get them to stop fighting. Whimsun forgives you and apologizes for hurting you.**

You are very happy with the turn of events. Flowey isn't even shocked at this point.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1-** **HP 9/20**

 ***** **Whimsun**

 **[FIGHT]** **[** **ACT]** **[** **ITEM]** **[** ***MERCY]**

 **[MERCY]:** ***Spare Flee**

 **You WON! You earned 0 XP and 3 gold.**

Flowey shakes his head at you when the fight is over. "I cannot believe that you of all humans can make friends with monsters. It's just crazy! It goes against the natural order of things! It's supposed to be KILL or BE KILLED!" Flowey looks like he just found out that his entire life is a lie. You tell Flowey that some rules are just meant to be broken. Flowey perks up at this. "Yeah, like the rule about only taking one piece of candy!" You cringe. You still hate yourself for taking more than one.

You and Flowey move on to the next room. It looks like a normal room. However, when you step forward, the floor drops out from beneath you, and you fall into a room directly below it. Flowey squeaks with surprise. You're still a little startled by your fall. You luckily had landed on your feet in a pile of leaves.

You calm down, and see that there are two exits, right or left. You go to the one on the right, because you had come in from the left. When you climb the ladder in the exit, you end up at a vent. Outside the vent is the other side of the fake floor, so you climb out. Flowey calms down enough to talk again. "That was scary! Next time, warn me before you fall down a hole!" You aren't sure how that's even possible, but you promise to at least try.

In the new room, there is a rock lying on the ground, and a pressure plate in a few feet in front of it. Spikes block off the exit. Flowey sighs. "This is just fantastic! More puzzles. I bet there's another puzzle in the room after this one, and then in the room after that, and aft-" You are sickened at the mere thought of more _puzzles_ , so you stop listening to Flowey complain about them.

You read the sign on the wall to the left. "Three out of four grey rocks recommend you push them." You and Flowey are both confused as to what that could even mean. You sorely hope that the grey rock on the floor is one of the three. Lucky of you, it is. You push the rock to the pressure plate, and the spikes come down, allowing you and Flowey to progress. Flowey claps his leaves. "Thank goodness that was an easy one! Forward, march!" In your head, you wonder how old Flowey is. He gives off a knowledgeable persona that was wise beyond his years, but at times like these, he acts like he's 11 years old! You come to the conclusion that your question will likely never be answered.

The next room has more fake looking floor in it. Flowey groans at his least favorite type of puzzle. "Let's just get this over with." You nod your head and survey the room. There is an exit down and to the right, so you precariously begin to walk on the floor. Almost instantly, you fall through the floor to the level below. Fortunately, you land in a leaf pile again. Flowey glares at you from his shoe. "You didn't warn me!" You shrug your shoulders at your friend, almost saying out loud, "Tough luck buddy." But you catch yourself before you do. You still aren't exactly comfortable speaking unless given permission.

You explore the lower level a little, and find a sign on the wall that says, "Please don't step on the leaves." Inwardly, you apologize. You are not sure who exactly you're apologizing to, but it feels right. You make your way out of the room, taking care not to step on the leaves this time. As you avoid the leaves, you realize that the space without leaves creates a path. You explain your findings to Flowey who scoffs at you. "I figured that out as soon as you read the sign. I was about to tell you, but you beat me to it." Flowey is looking particularly smug, and you decide to let him win this one.

While you make your way out of the lower room, a monster appears in front of you.

 **Moldsmal blocked the way!**

You get the feeling that this won't be very easy. Flowey encourages you to flee from the fight, but you want to be friends with as many monsters as possible.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1-** **HP 9/20**

 ***Moldsmal**

 **[FIGHT]** **[** ***ACT]** **[** **ITEM]** **[** **MERCY]**

 **[ACT]:** ***Check Feelings Flirt TrashTalk**

 **8 ATK, 3 DEF. Stereotypical: Curvaceously attractive, but really bitchy.**

Moldsmal attacks you, and you realize you need to heal. And fast.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1-** **HP 3/20**

 **[FIGHT]** **[** **ACT]** **[** ***ITEM]** **[** **MERCY]**

 **[ITEM]:** ***Mon. Candy**

 **You recover 10 HP!**

You dodge all of Moldsmal's attacks, and you hear Flowey cheer you on in the background. You decide to go the aggressive route, because it's worked on every other monster.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1-** **HP 13/20**

 ***Moldsmal**

 **[FIGHT]** **[** ***ACT]** **[** **ITEM]** **[** **MERCY]**

 **[ACT]:** **Check Feelings Flirt *TrashTalk**

 **You insult the Moldsmal's sense of style. The Moldsmal says your sweater is the ugliest thing they've ever seen. Both of your DEF dropped!**

You feel insulted, but confused. Why didn't the Moldsmal like it? You decide to try the flirtatious approach, even though you've never flirted with anyone before.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1-** **HP 13/20**

 ***Moldsmal**

 **[FIGHT]** **[** ***ACT]** **[** **ITEM]** **[** **MERCY]**

 **ACT:** **Check Feelings *Flirt TrashTalk**

 **You wiggle your hips. The Moldsmal rudely rejects your advances.**

" **Ew! Get away from me you creep!"**

Moldsmal's attacks get faster and harder to dodge. You decide to try the action you least expect to work.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1-** **HP 7/20**

 ***Moldsmal**

 **[FIGHT]** **[** ***ACT]** **[** **ITEM]** **[** **MERCY]**

 **[ACT]:** **Check *Feelings Flirt TrashTalk**

 **You ask Moldsmal to share their feelings with you. You patiently listen as Moldsmal tells you that they have a crush on another Moldsmal, and they don't know how to flirt. You suggest that Moldsmal practice on you.**

You feel like you really understand where Moldsmal is coming from. Flowey is shouting tips on how to flirt at Moldsmal, but to you it sounds like Flowey doesn't know what he's talking about.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1-** **HP 7/20**

 ***Moldsmal**

 **[FIGHT]** **[** ***ACT]** **[** **ITEM]** **[** **MERCY]**

 **[ACT]:** **Check Feelings *Flirt TrashTalk**

 **You wiggle your hips. Moldsmal nervously wiggles back. You tell Moldsmal that they're doing a great job. The Moldsmal thanks you for listening to them.**

You smile at the Moldsmal. Moldsmal makes cute slime noises. Flowey pukes in the background.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1-** **HP 9/20**

 ***** **Moldsmal**

 **[FIGHT]** **[** **ACT]** **[** **ITEM]** **[** ***MERCY]**

 **[MERCY]:** ***Spare**

 **You WON! You earned 0 XP and 7 gold.**

"Whew! Glad that's finally over. Let's go already." Flowey is still recovering from puking earlier. You cringe as you see Flowey's puke in a pile of leaves. Gross.

You and Flowey go back to the upper tier of the Ruins, and you follow the precise path that was laid out downstairs. Flowey says to check out the sign and you do. "Didn't you read the sign downstairs?" it reads. You look down and realize that you are stepping on leaves. You internally say sorry to the universe and go to the exit. The following room has three grey rocks on the ground, each with pressure plates a few feet in front of them.

You push the first one to its pressure plate. Nothing happens.

You push the second one to its pressure plate. Nothing happens.

You try to push the third rock, but it abruptly begins to shout at you.

"HEY! Who told you that you could just push me around!" said the rock. You apologize to the rock. The rock huffs in exasperation. You ask the rock if it could move over a little bit. "So you're ASKIN' me to move over? Well, I guess so. Beats sittin' around being a rock."

The rock moves forward a few inches. Flowey looks frustrated. You patiently ask the rock to move over some more. "HMM? You want me to move some more? Well, how do you like this?" The rock moves in the wrong direction. Flowey faceleaves.

You gently tell the rock that it moved in the wrong direction. "HMM? That was the wrong direction? Okay, I think I get it now." The rock moves all the way to the pressure plate and stays there. The spikes pop down. You smile at the rock.

Unfortunately, just as you were about to step across the platform, the spikes pop back up because the rock moves again. Flowey curses the grey rock under his breath, but you can still hear.

You walk back to the rock and tell it that you want it to stay there. "HMMM? You wanted me to stay there? Yeesh, you're giving me a real workout!" The rock moves back to the platform and stays there when you and Flowey walk across. In the succeeding room, Flowey starts to rant. "UHH! That was the most frustrating experience ever! How could a rock be so cheeky?" You laugh at Flowey's antics.

After making sure Flowey was actually alright, you survey the room. You walk over to a table with a piece of cheese on it. You notice that the cheese has been here quite a long time. It's stuck to the table…

You observe the mousehole in the wall. When you are close enough, you can hear the squeak of the mouse inside. You get the familiar feeling of your soul anchoring itself to this moment.

Knowing the mouse might one day leave its hole and get the cheese… It fills you with **DETERMINATION**.

* * *

 **Remember to leave a review! It's really appreciated.**


	3. The Ruins: Puzzles and Monsters Galore

**Author's Note: Fun Fact; As I write new chapters of this story, I listen to the music in the Undertale OST that goes with it. When writing about puzzles, I put on "Ruins". When writing battles I turn up "Enemy Approaching". And when writing Napstablook, I switch it to "Ghost Fight". It really helps me focus on keeping everybody in character. Enjoy!**

* * *

After saving at the mousehole, you and Flowey move on to the next room. In the next room, you see a ghost sleeping in a pile of leaves, and blocking your way. Flowey nudges you. "I think we should stay away from them, this one's a pretty aggressive ghost." You take Flowey's warning as a challenge, and are determined to become friends with the ghost, no matter how long it takes. You walk up to the immobile ghost and nudge them with your foot a little bit. The ghost stays on the floor, snoring away. You call out to the ghost, and they seem to stir in their sleep. Nothing else happens. You nudge the ghost one more time, and they crack one of their eyes open and frown at you. The ghost gets off the floor and glares at you.

The ghost looks very different from the generic cartoon ghosts you've seen before. This ghost looks like the stereotypical bedsheet ghost, but black. Their eyes are red, and their mouth is too. You ask the ghost if you could move past them. The ghost glares harder. "I'M NOT IN THE MOOD!" They shout. Flowey moans and you feel yourself entering a **FIGHT**.

 **Here comes Napstablook!**

Flowey is shouting at you. "Frisk! I'm telling you right now that you don't want to fight them! Please listen to me!" You feel bad that you keep ignoring Flowey, but you are too **DETERMINED** to befriend the fearsome inhabitants of the Underground.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 9/20**

 ***Napstablook**

 **[FIGHT]** **[** **ACT]** **[** **ITEM]** **[** ***MERCY]**

 **[MERCY]:** ***Spare**

 **Napstablook glares at you. "No thank you! I don't want your worthless pity!"**

You don't register the catchy upbeat jazz music in the background of the fight, as you attempt to dodge the acid from the glare Napstablook is giving you. Attempt is the keyword. You are hit far more times than you would have liked. You are going to die if you don't heal soon.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 1/20**

 **[FIGHT]** **[** **ACT]** **[** ***ITEM]** **[** **MERCY]**

 **[ITEM]:** ***Mon. Candy**

 **You ate the Monster Candy and gained 10 HP!**

Unfortunately for you, 11 HP doesn't seem to help much against Napstablook's relentless acid glare. You try your best to dodge, but the acid seems to be flooding the Bullet Board all at once. Flowey is watching you fight, but too scared to say anything encouraging.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 3/20**

 ***Napstablook**

 **[FIGHT]** **[** ***ACT]** **[** **ITEM]** **[** **MERCY]**

 **[ACT]:** ***Check Threaten Comfort Ditch Flirt**

 **12 ATK, 12 DEF. This enemy desperately needs emotional support from family and friends… but they don't have any.**

" **Leave me alone you stupid human! Like my idiot cousins!"**

You feel bad for the inwardly depressed ghost, knowing exactly how they feel. You feel so bad that you unfortunately don't move in time to dodge one of the drops of acid.

You let out a scream of pain, and the last thing you hear before your soul shatters into pieces is Flowey crying out your name.

* * *

 **You cannot give up just yet! Chara! Stay DETERMINED…**

* * *

You gasp as you feel your soul returning to your latest Save at the mousehole. You try and calm your breathing. So this is what reloading feels like? So that is what dying feels like? You don't dwell on your thoughts for very long, because you are still holding Flowey.

And Flowey is _angry_.

"YOU STUPID, STUPID HUMAN! WHY DIDN'T YOU LISTEN TO ME YOU IDIOT? I TOLD YOU TO FLEE, AND WHAT DO YOU DO? YOU **ACT**!" As Flowey continues to scream bloody murder at you, you can feel yourself start to cry. You can't help it, whenever someone is mad at you, you always get emotional for no reason. You internally kick yourself for being such a baby. Flowey stops shouting when he sees you crying. His angry face dissipates and is replaced with a look of regret. "Oh. Frisk, I… I'm sorry for yelling at you. I just… was so sad when you died! I mean, why did you bring me along to help you if you keep ignoring all my tips?" Now Flowey is crying, and you realize that you have been being pretty mean to your friend. But not on purpose.

You pat the top of Flowey's head, and tell him that you just want to make friends with the monsters, not kill them or run away. You tell him you brought him along because he's your best friend, and you want the other monsters to get the same treatment you gave Flowey. Flowey looks up at you and sniffs. "I guess I just can't let go of the whole kill or be killed thing. I'm sorry for imposing that on you. From now on, I'm going to encourage you to fight monsters your way! Your method is better anyway, considering how many monsters you've already befriended." You nod and smile down at Flowey and he grins right back at you.

You leave the room to face Napstablook again. By the time you walk back in, they're already awake and angry. Napstablook glares at you. "Thanks a lot for waking me up by the way, it really helps my mood!" You give an eyeroll at Napstablook's sarcasm and engage a fight.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 20/20**

 ***Napstablook**

 **[FIGHT]** **[** ***ACT]** **[** **ITEM]** **[** **MERCY]**

 **[ACT]:** **Check Threaten Comfort Ditch *Flirt**

 **You give Napstablook a flirtatious wink. They blush profusely.**

" **Y-you don't e-even kn-know me!"**

You giggle at Napstablook's nervousness. Napstablook's attacks are shaky and miss you completely, going around you if you stay still. Flowey is thinking up ship-names for you two.

"Napstafrisk? Friskablook? I got it! Napfristabloosk!" You shake your head at the awful couple names. Napstablook blushes even harder.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 20/20**

 ***Napstablook**

 **[FIGHT]** **[*** **ACT]** **[** **ITEM]** **[** **MERCY]**

 **[ACT]:** **Check Threaten *Comfort Ditch Flirt**

 **You tell Napstablook that you know how it feels for your family to abandon you. Napstablook looks at you in a new light.**

Napstablook doesn't even bother attacking you this time. The bullet board says, "Not really feeling it right now." Flowey looks at you with concern in his eyes. You suddenly wish you had said something different. Too late now.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 20/20**

 ***Napstablook**

 **[FIGHT]** **[*** **ACT]** **[** **ITEM]** **[** **MERCY]**

 **[ACT]:** **Check Threaten *Comfort Ditch Flirt**

 **You ask Napstablook to tell you what's bothering them. Napstablook gives in to your kindness.**

" **My cousins all left me behind in Waterfall so they could follow their dreams of becoming corporeal. Now, they only ever talk to me to bug me to join them! I hate being alone all the time."**

You notice that Napstablook's mood seems to have slightly improved after talking about their feelings. Napstablook halfheartedly attacks you with acid rain, but you dodge.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 20/20**

 ***Napstablook**

 **[FIGHT]** **[*** **ACT]** **[** **ITEM]** **[** **MERCY]**

 **[ACT]:** **Check Threaten *Comfort Ditch Flirt**

 **You hug Napstablook the best you can and say that you'll be their friend and won't ditch them like their cousins did. Napstablook looks at you surprised, but happier.**

You smile at Napstablook. Napstablook finally cracks and gives you a ghost of a smile back. Flowey is blowing his non-existent nose with a tissue as he cries at the touching seen.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 20/20**

 ***** **Napstablook**

 **[FIGHT]** **[ACT]** **[ITEM]** **[*MERCY]**

 **[MERCY]:** ***Spare**

 **You WON! You earned 0 XP and 12 gold.**

Napstablook has a tiny smile on their face and a faint blush on their cheeks. "Thanks… for that. Talking really helps. I...I guess I should get out of your way now. See you around, friend!" And with that, Napstablook vanishes.

Flowey is still looking at you suspiciously, and you wish that Flowey wouldn't remember if you were to re-load right now. You pick up the shoe containing Flowey and head turn right to go into the next room.

When you walk in, you are confronted by a sign. "Did you miss it? Spider Bakesale down and to the right! Come eat food made by spiders, for spiders, of spiders!" The last line has you sticking your tounge out in disgust, but you decide to visit anyway. _Anything_ to get more monster food.

Flowey looks like he's about to puke again. "Really? Spider food? If I were you I would've just gone back for more of the Monster Candy on the floor." You flinch at Flowey's mention of the Monster Candy. Your self-loathing intensifies. You walk in the room hosting the Spider Bakesale and see two large spider webs. Upon closer inspection, you realize that there are words written into the webs with thicker silk. They are the prices for the goods at the bake sale. You leave a hefty price of 14 gold in the slightly smaller web. Some spiders crawl down and throw a donut at your face. You catch it and inspect it. It looks very appetizing.

"Spider donut huh? It's made with Spider Cider in the batter you know." When Flowey's finishes sharing that tidbit of information with you, you don't feel like eating it any more. You leave the bakesale behind to progress to the next room. It's a long room, and you recognise three Froggits that you encountered earlier. You stop by the first Froggit to talk to it. "Ribbit, ribbit. (Sigh. My never listens to me. Whenever I talk, they skip through my words by pressing [X]. That's right….. Pressing [X]...) You listen to the Froggit intently, meanwhile Flowey wishes he had an [X] button to press. The Froggit smiles at you. "Well, at least you listen to me."

You move on to the next Froggit. "Ribbit. (I heard using "F4" can make you have a "full screen". But what does "F4" stand for? "Four frogs"? I have only seen a maximum of three frogs in this room… This is troubling, to say the least.) Ribbit." You are about to talk to the third Froggit, but Flowey interrupts you by gesturing to the wall. "What's that white thing in the crack in the wall?"

You walk to the wall and see a tiny ant sized Froggit waving at you. You and Flowey both wave back. "So that's the fourth frog…" Flowey realizes. You proceed to move to the last Froggit. "Ribbit, ribbit. (I have seen that you are quite merciful, for a human… Surely you know by now a monster wears an UNDERLINED name when you can spare it. What do you think of that?" Flowey cuts in before you can tell the Froggit that it is very helpful. "It's bad." Flowey says with a mischievous smile.

The froggit looks surprised. "Not a fan of underlines ey? Well, I guess that everyone still has their _italicized_ names that went out of fashion last year. Maybe it's time to bring them back. I'll tell my friends about it." You glare at Flowey who is grinning like a madman. You exit the room with all the Froggits.

The next room is quite large, and there is a sign on the wall near you. "There is just one switch." You look at the rest of the room, and nothing looks out of the ordinary. But, as you observe, you recognise the fake flooring in some places. You sigh, and warn Flowey that there is more falling to come. Flowey groans, but braces himself. You walk to the first faux tile you see and fall down. You and Flowey land in a pile of leaves. All you see in the room is the top of a carrot sticking out of the ground. Since you don't particularly like vegetables, you leave it alone.

Unfortunately the carrot doesn't feel like reciprocating the gesture.

 **Vegetoid appears from the earth!**

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 20/20**

 ***Vegetoid**

 **[FIGHT]** **[*ACT]** **[ITEM]** **[MERCY]**

 **[ACT]:** ***Check Complain Dinner Devour**

 **8 ATK, 8 DEF. This monster is a bit of a health freak, and will not tolerate any consumer of junk food.**

" **You're going to eat your veggies, and you're going to like it!"**

In the bullet board Vegetoid threw a bunch of vegetables at you. You find that vegetable rain is extremely difficult to dodge. You choose to heal this turn.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 6/20**

 ***Vegetoid**

 **[FIGHT]** **[ACT]** **[*ITEM]** **[MERCY]**

 **[ITEM]:** ***Mon. Candy Spider Don.**

 **You ate the Monster Candy! You gained 12 HP**

" **CANDY! How disgusting and unhealthy!"**

The Vegetoid is far from pleased with you. You lose the 12 HP that you earned back and then some. You don't like any of the other options, and the Vegetoid isn't able to be spared yet. You try the Dinner option, because it seems less violent than Devour.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 4/20**

 ***Vegetoid**

 **[FIGHT]** **[*ACT]** **[ITEM]** **[MERCY]**

 **[ACT]:** **Check Complain *Dinner Devour**

 **You pat your belly. Vegetoid is confused.**

" **You want to eat… me?"**

You attempt to shake your head no, but your turn is over by then. You manage to only be hit once. Your HP is low, but you can't heal just yet.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 2/20**

 ***Vegetoid**

 **[FIGHT]** **[*ACT]** **[ITEM]** **[MERCY]**

 **[ACT]:** **Check *Complain Dinner Devour**

 **You begin to whine about how horribly unhealthy the food is down here. Vegetoid is sympathetic and offers you a healthy meal.**

" **Eat your Greens!"**

You see green vegetables raining down on you, and remember what Vegetoid said about greens. You catch one and eat it. It tastes just like an actual carrot. The Vegetoid is very happy with you. Flowey eyes the vegetable and looks horrified.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 4/20**

 ***** _ **Vegetoid**_

 **[FIGHT]** **[ACT]** **[ITEM]** **[*MERCY]**

 **[MERCY]:** ***Spare**

 **You WON! You earned 0 XP and 6 gold!**

You still have half of the green carrot in your hand, so you devour the rest of it. Flowey looks terrified. "I HATE vegetables! How can you eat those?" You shrug and move to the ladder to get up to the upper room. When you get back up, you tell Flowey to get ready. You jump down another concealed hole, below the first one.

There aren't any monsters hiding here, but you do see a faded red ribbon lying on the ground. Flowey looks like he's about to have a panic attack. "They… T-They left their r-ri-ribbon here…" You examine the Faded Ribbon. You tie it in your hair. Maybe if you look cuter, monsters won't hit you as hard. You turn to Flowey and ask him who "they" is. Flowey looks heartbroken. "They… Charlie was one of the first humans to fall down here. They thought that they could take on the monsters down here, but they never made it out of the Ruins. That was the ribbon they always wore in their hair." Flowey sighs, melancholic. "Well, it looks good on you."

You suddenly feel creeped out wearing a dead person's hair accessory, but you don't remove it. You go back up the ladder and move to the next hole, to the right. You fall down, and are pleasantly surprised to see Napstablook floating above the leaf pile. You wave and Napstablook brightens, but then blushes. "You-you're ribbon… is really... uh, cute?" Napstablook tries their absolute hardest to look anywhere else but you. You giggle softly at Napstablook's embarrassment. Flowey shouts out yet another ship name for you and Napstablook. "Frinapstiskablook!" You actually kind of like that one. Napstablook has turned a very prominent shade of dark red from all their blush. "Ohh. You wouldn't want to date me, I promise." You shake your head and flash the call me sign to Napstablook. They can't take it anymore and vanish. You and Flowey laugh all the way up the ladder.

You fall down the next hole to your right, instead of the one above. Down here, you immediately encounter two monsters.

 **Migosp crawls up close and Moldsmal bounces behind!**

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 4/20**

 **[FIGHT]** **[*ACT]** **[*ITEM]** **[MERCY]**

 **[ITEM]:** ***Mon. Candy Spider Don.**

 **You ate the Monster candy and gained 10 HP!**

The Moldsmal attacks you with exploding balls of slime, but the Migosp hangs back. You decide to check it out.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 14/20**

 **Moldsmal**

 ***** _ **Migosp**_

 **[FIGHT]** **[*ACT]** **[ITEM]** **[MERCY]**

 **[ACT]:** ***Check Talk**

 **9 ATK, 7 DEF. Seems cool, but only around crowds.**

With that new piece of information, you plan to spare the Migosp on your next turn. You dodge the exploding jello as it comes your way.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 14/20**

 **Moldsmal**

 ***** _ **Migosp**_

 **[FIGHT]** **[ACT]** **[ITEM]** **[*MERCY]**

 **[MERCY]:** ***Spare**

The Migosp exits the fight, leaving the Moldsmal all alone. It attacks you, but seems bothered by something.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 14/20**

 ***Moldsmal**

 **[FIGHT]** **[*ACT]** **[ITEM]** **[MERCY]**

 **[ACT]:** **Check *Feelings Flirt TrashTalk**

 **You ask Moldsmal to share their feelings with you. You patiently listen as the Moldsmal tells you about another Moldsmal who has a crush on them. Moldsmal doesn't know how to reciprocate. You suggest they try flirting with you.**

The Moldsmal doesn't attack this turn, waiting for you to make the first move instead.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 14/20**

 ***Moldsmal**

 **[FIGHT]** **[*ACT]** **[ITEM]** **[MERCY]**

 **[ACT]:** **Check Feelings *Flirt TrashTalk**

 **You wiggle your hips. Moldsmal wiggles back confidently. You tell the Moldsmal they did a great job. Moldsmal thanks you.**

Flowey looks disgusted. "NOO! Frinapstiskablook forever!"

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 14/20**

 ***** _ **Moldsmal**_

 **[FIGHT]** **[ACT]** **[ITEM]** **[*MERCY]**

 **[MERCY]:** ***Spare**

 **You WON! You earned 0 XP and 7 gold.**

After pocketing the dropped gold, you and Flowey climb back up the ladder and move to the hole above you. There isn't anyone there, so you move on the the hole to the left, the last hole.

When you fall in, you see a yellow switch. You flip the switch, curious, and hear a clicking sound above you. You climb up the ladder to find that your exit is no longer blocked. You and Flowey cheer as you exit the room, believing that you are finally finished with puzzles.

You aren't

At the next room, Flowey looks like he's about to tear his petals out. "MORE FREAKING **PUZZLES!** " You feel like crying, but steel yourself and push on. You see three pillars with different colored switches to the left of them. You observe the room some more. There is a sign on the wall that you read. "The far door is not an exit. It simply marks a rotation in perspective." The exit to the room isn't blocked, so you leave. The next room is like the previous one, but turned around. You walk around and see a sign. "If you can read this, press the blue switch." The exit is blocked by spikes. You look around for the blue switch, but you don't find it anywhere.

Flowey is looking around too, and he finds the switch before you do. "Hey look! The blue switch is _behind_ that pillar!" You now understand what the sign meant about a rotating perspective. You go behind the northernmost pillar and press the blue switch. The spikes drop down and you move to the next room, thanking Flowey.

The next room is more self explanatory. The sign reads, "If you can read this, press the red switch." You easily locate the red switch and press it. The next room becomes available. You move on. Flowey is muttering to himself that all the puzzles will be over soon. This room's sign says, "If you can read this, press the green switch." You can only see a blue switch. Before you can search, you encounter a monster.

 **Loox drew near!**

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 14/20**

 ***Loox**

 **[FIGHT]** **[*ACT]** **[ITEM]** **[MERCY]**

 **[ACT]:** ***Check Dark Side Light Side Use Force**

 **8 ATK, 8 DEF. Knows the ways of the Force. Family name: Eyewalker.**

" **Join the Dark Side! We have Spider Donuts!"**

You practically laugh out loud. You love Star Wars. You dodge Loox's attacks with relative ease. Flowey has somehow found a bag of popcorn and is eating it while cheering you on.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 14/20**

 ***Loox**

 **[FIGHT]** **[*ACT]** **[ITEM]** **[MERCY]**

 **[ACT]:** **Check Dark Side *Light Side Use Force**

 **You inform Loox that you are a Jedi Master. Loox snarls at you.**

" **Prove it!"**

Loox attacks fiercely. You manage to dodge though. Before starting your turn, you ask Flowey, (who now is wearing a pair of 3-D glasses while watching the fight.) for help. Flowey hatches a master plan.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 14/20**

 ***Loox**

 **[FIGHT]** **[*ACT]** **[ITEM]** **[MERCY]**

 **[ACT]:** **Check Dark Side Light Side *Use Force**

 **You make a big show of lifting up a ton of bullets without touching them, mimicking the Force. In reality, Flowey is controlling the bullets. Loox falls for it.**

" **H-hey! I'll get out of your way, oh great one!"**

You don't want Loox to be scared of you, so you do one last thing.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 14/20**

 ***** _ **Loox**_

 **[FIGHT]** **[*ACT]** **[ITEM]** **[MERCY]**

 **[ACT]:** **Check Dark Side *Light Side Use Force**

 **You convince Loox to join the Light Side. Loox makes their decision.**

" **Cool! I'm only on the Dark Side because my father is."**

Loox seems happy and relieved. You smile at them. Flowey is clapping his leaves, and shouting about how great the ending was.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 20/20**

 ***** _ **Loox**_

 **[FIGHT]** **[ACT]** **[ITEM]** **[*MERCY]**

 **[MERCY]:** ***Spare**

 **You WON! You earned 0 XP and 8 gold.**

After the fight is over, you and Flowey search for the green switch. You find it behind one of the pillars and press it. The spikes at the exit pop down. You run out of the room with Flowey in your arms, escaping to freedom. (of puzzles.)

The next room has Flowey crying with relief. "Finally! No more puzzles!" You pat Flowey's head and wait for your friend to calm down. When Flowey's ready you go ahead, and your socks get caught in some vines on the floor. You aren't able to unsnag them, so you ditch them and go barefoot. You are about to turn left and go up, but Flowey stops you. "Frisk, that's the way to **Home** , where Toriel lives. We'll have to go there eventually, but could you go see what's ahead?" Flowey looks pretty nervous about going to Toriel's, so you comply. In the room ahead, you see one of the various Froggits you fought. "Ribbit, ribbit. (Just between you and me… I saw **Toriel** come out of here just a little while ago. I quickly looked away though, everybody's too freaked out to even look at her.) Ribbit." Flowey shivers. You felt an ominous chill sweep through the stale air of the Ruins. You go to the room behind the Froggit.

It's a balcony, overlooking a city. On the balcony itself is a sharpened Toy Knife. Flowey lets out a noise like he's being strangled. "Ch-Charlie's knife… they left it out here." You understand. You walk over to the knife and stare at it intensely.

99% of you wants to chuck the knife over the balcony, because you know how horrible knives are. But there's a tiny, nagging thought in the back of your brain. The part of you that cares about your self preservation and self defense. It wants you to equip it, just to be safe. You can't decide what to do. Eventually though, you come to your senses and pick up the knife… and put it in your inventory. You don't equip it, but you don't throw it away.

Flowey has tears in his eyes. "Let's… get out of here. We just have to sneak by Mo-Toriel, then we'll exit the Ruins." You notice how Flowey stumbles on Toriel's name, but you don't pry. Flowey is shake up enough as it is.

You go back up the the other room you passed. You see a dead tree with a pile of red leaves surrounding it. Flowey sighs wistfully. "Any time this old tree grows any leaves, they fall right off." You don't have the heart to throw yourself into the leaf pile, and instead slowly walk forward. There's a brick house covered in overgrown moss, and practically falling apart. The brick of the house is crumbling, and the leaves outside are covered in a fine layer of dust. You almost walk inside, but Flowey pauses you. "Frisk, maybe… maybe you should save. Just in case… something goes wrong." You nod and focus on your determination.

The knowledge that you and your friend are finally going to leave the Ruins, fills you with **DETERMINATION**.

* * *

 **Finally that's done. Sorry for not updating very fast. Christmas Eve, Christmas, and Post Christmas were all very busy for me and my family. Hope you guys understand!**

 **And now, a special thanks, for the people who gave me the DETERMINATION to write this chapter.**

 **To the followers: 2014archer, In The Forest, kirbyfan1996, Determined neko, TheBlackCat223, Marblesaurus, Homesnork, Arsenic-Wings, Winged music box, Crowncake, No-hablo-ingles, Mr. Indigo, cmberumen84, Geryea, Saralei Nighthaven, Leafyphix, Jui-Imouto-Chan, TheSpaceDoritoAmongUs, and Randomperson 82. Thank you so much for following An Alternate Adventure.**

 **To the favoriters: TheBlackCat223, Marblesaurus, The-Amazing-Kay, Homesnork, Arsenic-Wings, NightmareOnElmStreetFan, Crowncake, The Two Best Book Lovers, Leafyphix, Jui-Imouto-Chan, idrk what to put, and Meatbun Attack. Thank you so much for favoriting An Alternate Adventure. It really means a lot to me.**

 **And last, but not least, to the 6 people who took the time out of their day to review my story. OnePiece14, AnonymousEskimo, kirbyfan1996, Leafyphix, Leafy(guest), and Nyan Cat(guest).**

 **Thank you all so much. You guys have no idea how much this means to me.**


	4. The Ruins: Heartbreak

**An Alternate Adventure updates, but you are too mad at how late it is. Lea Valdez pops out, looking extremely scared.**

" **See! I can update! I was just waiting for you guys to read some other stories too! See? I'll still write more of the story! I even put up a poll on my profile about what ships guys want in it! See, I can be interesting to you!" You smile creepily at them. Lea starts crying.**

" **P-l-e-a-s-e-d-o-n-t-k-i-l-l-m-e"**

 **Slash**

 **Slash**

 **Slash**

* * *

As you enter Toriel's home, you are filled with dread. The house is even more unkempt on the inside. The wooden floors are creaky and torn up in certain places. The house isn't brightly lit, casting shadows on the walls. The ceiling is leaking… something, and there is mold all over the place. It reminds you a little bit of your house on the surface: in shambles. Flowey is shivering like crazy in his shoe. "I hate this place. Let's leave, like right now."

Before you could agree, you jump at the sudden sound of another, softer, voice behind you. The voice laughs, a creepy, cold, high pitched noise. "Ha ha. My child... why would you want to leave?" says the voice. Before you can scream and run, two firm, furry hands grab you by the shoulders, and spin you around. It's Toriel.

Flowey whimpers in fear and disappears into the dirt of his shoe. You look at Toriel and take in her appearance for the first time. She is some kind of goat monster, with small horns atop her head. She is smiling at you, a very demented smile. Her faded purple dress is torn at the bottom, and stained with mysterious liquids and a dusty powder. Her brown, almost red, eyes bore into your soul, examining you like a piece of clothing. You shiver at the sight of her. She laughs again. "I have been expecting you, small one. I had heard you and your flower friend in the long corridor. You were hiding behind the pillar, weren't you?"

You stand there, frozen and unable to respond. After a few seconds of silence, Toriel glares at you. "Well? ANSWER ME!" At Toriel's shout you quickly nod your head. She smiles again and ruffles your hair. "Good child. Very good. Come along now, I will show you to your new room." She grasps your hand and holds it tight, forcefully dragging you to the next room. You see a door, and Toriel opens it. It reveals a room, a child's room. The walls look like they were once a vibrant orange, but the color is faded and the paint is peeled. Toriel harshly shoves you into the room, and you trip and fall on to the floor. Toriel smiles again. "Now, I need to go run some errands. You be a good child and stay in your room. Otherwise… well, let us not dwell on such things." Toriel shuts the door, and you hear a clicking sound. Your heart pounds as you realize that Toriel locked you in.

Flowey pops out again. "Frisk! Oh my god, are you ok?" You nod your head and stand up to look around your room. The room is dark, and the lights don't work. You could make out a twin sized bed. You lie down on it, and find that it is quite comfortable. At the foot of the bed are some dusty toys. They don't interest you at all. Next to the lamp is a box of children's shoes of all different sizes. You find a pair of boots that look like your size. You put them on, and despite their age, they are better than your old shoes. You turn to a closet that holds lots of striped shirts and sweaters of different sizes. When you are done inspecting your location, you turn back to Flowey.

"How are we going to get out of here now? She locked us in!" As Flowey panics, you suggest to just wait and see. You point out that Toriel hasn't tried killing you yet. Flowey glares at you. "Don't you get it? Charlie did the same thing, and now they're dead! They thought they could stay with… her. But Charlie was wrong. Toriel's trying to lull you into a false sense of security. When you're comfortable, she'll steal your soul! I promise you that." You sigh, and nod at your friend. You wish that you could just be safe somewhere, but it doesn't look like that will ever happen. You go to the bed and lie down to sleep. You've had a long day.

* * *

You wake up feeling rejuvenated. You feel ready to take on the day, and then deflate as you realize you are still locked in the room. You go up to the door and try to jiggle the knob in vain. You sigh and glance at Flowey's shoe. He isn't there. He must still be asleep. You then bring your toy knife out of your inventory and hatch a master plan to break out of the room. You begin to pick the lock with the small, sharp edge of the plastic blade, until you finally hear the click you were waiting for. You grab Flowey's shoe and dart out of your temporary prison.

You quietly sneak around the house, hopeful that Toriel isn't around. You check the living room, the kitchen, and the entry hall. The only other living things in the house besides you and Flowey is a bunch of mold. You breathe a sigh of relief. You quietly walk back to the kitchen again and find that there's a pie sitting on the counter. You reach up to touch it. It's ice cold. You take a slice anyway. You might need it later. You inspect the pie. After sniffing it, you recall the smell. It smells like that weird escargot stuff that your mom would bring back from fancy restaurants. You store it away in your inventory for later.

As you continue exploring Toriel's home, Flowey pops up from the dirt in his shoe. "Frisk!" he whisper shouts. He quickly looks around, checking for any sign of their captor. "Frisk, what if Toriel's home and we don't know? She could be in her room right now!" You nervously shift your eyes around as well, paranoia overriding your curiosity for a second. You quickly shake it off though, and ask Flowey if he knows the exit.

Flowey scrunches up his face thoughtfully, before brightening. "If we go down the stairs, we can exit through the big door! It seals off the Ruins from the rest of the Underground. I bet if we hurry, we can escape!" Flowey is so excited at the prospect of breaking out, that he starts raising his voice. You aren't particularly concerned about Flowey making noise until you feel a large shadow looming over you. A soft voice interrupts Flowey.

"Oh my child, why would you ever want to leave? This _is_ your home now, as it should be. You will never leave here because you do not need to." You slowly turn around and see Toriel smiling down at you, before grabbing you by the hand and forcefully pulling you to your room. You cry out as Toriel tugs too hard. She refuses to look at you. Toriel practically throws you into your room, and glares at you hard. " _My child_ , you are not to leave this room until I come get you for dinner in a bit. You must stay here, _or else_." To solidify her threat, Toriel lit one of her hands on fire. You tremble and curl into a ball. You only want to leave. Toriel shuts the door, not even bothering to lock it because of how genuine her threat is. Flowey attempts to console you.

"F-Frisk don't worry about Toriel! We can still get past her! We can sneak out while she is asleep, or when she's grocery shopping or something like that! Come on, you can't give up yet!" Flowey frantically tries to improve your mood, but you just shake your head at him and lie down in the bed. You fall asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow.

* * *

The next time you wake up, you hear Flowey sobbing to himself. He is muttering things through his tears. "Wh-why is m-m-mo-mom acting like t-this! Wh-why isn't she n-nice to an-anybody?" You wonder who Flowey refers to as "Mom". Toriel? You ponder this. If Toriel is Flowey's mom, it would explain why he stumbled over her name earlier. You sit up and pick up Flowey's shoe, petting his head in an effort to calm him. Flowey looks up at you with tears in his eyes. You wipe away his tears and smile despite your fears. Flowey sniffs and looks back down. "I… I'm sorry, that you had to see that. I've always been a big crybaby. I just can't wait to get out of here." Flowey gives a watery chuckle. "Do you have any ideas for escape?" He asks halfheartedly. You think about this.

Flowey claims that if you are to get too comfortable here, then Toriel will kill you. But… what if you can lull _Toriel_ into a false sense of security, claiming that you love it here, and then sneaking out when she believes it. You smile to yourself. It's the perfect plan! You explain your plan to Flowey and his face lights up like he's a kid in a candy store. "Frisk, you're a genius!" You smile smugly down at Flowey. You tell him that it's time to start Phase 1. Waiting for dinner.

A few hours later, Toriel walks in with a forced smile on her face. "My child! It is time for dinner, we're having Bug Soup today!" You try your absolute hardest not to look disgusted, and reply that you're starving. You hop out of bed and give Toriel a hug, that you hope is convincing, before running to the dining room/living room to sit at the table. You stare down at the bowl of bug soup. You aren't sure whether it's safe to eat, and you had left Flowey in the room because being around Toriel is uncomfortable for him. So there isn't anybody to tell you if it's even safe to eat. You apprehensively pick up the spoon and dip it into the lumpy broth. You bring the spoon to your lips, bracing yourself for the worst.

As the soup enters your mouth, you discover that it is surprisingly good for soup made out of bugs. Toriel walks in and finds you shoveling down your soup. She looks confused and mildly suspicious. "You like it?" You nod vigorously in between spoonfuls of soup. Toriel looks wistfully at you. "None of the other humans ever tried it, you're the first. Well… aside from Ch-" Toriel stops whatever she was going to say. "No matter. Would you like some more?" You nod again, because your bowl is already empty. Toriel's initial uneasiness fades away at your response. She shuffles off into the kitchen to bring you more soup.

You grin at your empty bowl. Phase 1 complete! Time for Phase 2.

* * *

Toriel is in the basement, doing who knows what. Toriel has permitted you to wander around the house, so long as you don't traverse downstairs. _Or else_. It's the perfect time to commence Phase 2. You and Flowey are going to clean Toriel's house. You had decided together that if you were going to be living here for longer, then the living conditions need to improve.

It takes hours, but when the house is clean it feels totally worth it. No more mold, no more darkness, no more white fur stuck in the drain. The place actually feels like somewhere you can live in. You go back to your newly cleaned and dusted room, and find Flowey sitting on the bed in his shoe. He's glaring at it. You ask him if he's ok. He looks up at you, startled, but then replies. "Oh! Hi Frisk! I was wondering if you could maybe," Flowey bites his bottom lip, "get me an actual flower pot? It would be greatly appreciated." You nod and pick up your friend, and begin to traverse the house in search of a flower pot.

You find out very quickly that there aren't any in the house. The only rooms you haven't checked for one are the basement (for obvious reasons), the room under renovations (because it's locked.), and Toriel's room. You dread where you're going to have to go, but you are DETERMINED to do so. " _For Flowey._ " you think to yourself. You brace yourself and walk down the hallway, all the way up to Toriel's room.

"Are you crazy! What if Toriel is _in_ there?" Flowey looks at you with panic flashing in his eyes. You take a deep breath, and gulp down your fear. You carefully crack open the door. The room is a bright blue, and there isn't anyone in there. You step inside precariously. The room isn't as bad as you thought it would be. That isn't to say that the room is great either. You could barely tell that anyone lived here. The queen sized bed is neatly made, almost professionally done. The bookshelves are dusted, but the books themselves look brand new. You take one off the shelf and open to the middle. It's an encyclopedia of subterranean plants. Flowey looks on with you.

 _Venenosa Flos, a poisonous, invasive species of flower that is quite common in the Underground. These flowers are extremely deadly if their scent is deeply inhaled through any orifice, or consumed. They are often confused with other types of flowers, due to their infamous ability to camouflage by changing their petal color and shape. These flowers are often nicknamed, the shapeshifters, and it is unknown what their original form might have been._

You shiver. You will never pick flowers in the Underground. Never. It seems like too dangerous of an activity. You close the book and put it back on the shelf. You go over to a desk and spot a diary lying face down on the smooth surface. You hear Flowey gasp. "That's T-Toriel's diary! Just leave it alone, we don't know what horrible things that Toriel writes about!" You want to prove to Flowey that Toriel can't be that bad, so you open to a page that has a circled passage on it, and read it aloud.

 _Why doesn't anybody like the caretaker of the Ruins?_

 _Because she's a horrible wife to her husband and mother to her children._

The rest of the diary is filled with anti-jokes of similar caliber and depressing themes. You quietly close the diary and set it down. Flowey looks even more sad. You swear that you can even hear him mutter, "Poor mom," but it might just be your imagination.

You snoop around the room looking for a flower pot for your friend. So much time goes by, with no results, that your DETERMINATION almost wears out, but you eventually find what you're looking for. A small, terracotta flower pot lies inside one of Toriel's drawers. You triumphantly lift it out of the drawer and present it to Flowey, who is sitting on the desk. He looks up and grins. "Frisk, it's perfect! … Thank you, this shoe kinda sucks, no offense." he says sheepishly. You tell him that you don't take any offense to that. You make haste to transfer Flowey and all the dirt into the pot, trying your hardest not to make a mess in Toriel's room. Luckily, you are DETERMINED enough, and no dirt spills anywhere.

Flowey inspects his new dwelling. He seems satisfied. You take the shoe to the kitchen and toss it in the garbage. Good riddance. You go back to Toriel's room and take Flowey into your arms before heading back to your own room. Toriel still isn't back yet, but you know that at this point it's still too risky to leave her house, seeing as she could be anywhere.

You put Flowey on top of your dresser and turn off the light. You wish him a good night.

"Goodnight, Frisk."

You don't actually end up sleeping that night(?). You keep mulling over the morals of your plan. On one hand, gaining Toriel's trust would mean that you and Flowey could leave. On the other hand, you might really upset Toriel. You can already tell that she's depressed, from the quality of her 'jokes'. Maybe all she really wants is a child to love again. That seems to be a common theme with her diary entries. You shake your head as you like in your bed. That's silly, Toriel has frightened you, kidnapped you, and even threatened you. There's no way that she could ever really love you. There's no way that she could want you.

At least, that's what you tell yourself.

* * *

Phase 3 involves learning more about Toriel, and talking to her. This is probably the scariest part of your plan. The idea of conversing with Toriel is a daunting one, but you know it must be done if you want her to trust you. You sit up in your bed after your night of no sleep. Flowey pops out of the dirt in his pot to greet you. "Hiya Frisk! Is it… time for Phase 3?" You shakily nod your head, and climb out of your bed to get Flowey. After picking him up off the dresser, you leave your room to see if you can find Toriel.

You find her fairly quickly, as she is in the living room marveling at how good it looks. She doesn't notice you timidly step in. You take louder steps, trying to make yourself known. Startled, Toriel turns to look at you. "M-my child, did… did you and your…. flower friend clean my house?" she asks bewildered. You stare into her brown, almost red, eyes and give an embarrassed nod. Toriel regards you and even Flowey in a new light. "I, I do not know how to express my thanks to you my children. It has been so long since I've had company down here. Interactions with humans and even monsters are few and far between." She sighs and looks down. You set Flowey down on the ground, and then carefully approach the distraught goat woman, and wrap your arms around her in a cautious hug. Toriel stiffens in your embrace, but slowly hugs you back.

Unbeknownst to you, Flowey wishes that he could hug his mother mother again.

You quietly ask Toriel if she could read to you and Flowey. She looks delighted. "Why, of course my children! Why don't we read about the many uses for snails?" You aren't particularly interested, but you agree anyway. Flowey looks wistful and sad, so you pull him into the center of your criss-cross sitting position and pet the top of his head. Flowey glares at you, playfully annoyed. You keep going, and he doesn't stop you.

Toriel is sitting in her reading chair, with a pair of reading glasses resting on her face, as she narrates a book about snails. It's an unsurprisingly slow read. You are pleasantly shocked that the book is much more interesting that you had initially anticipated. You and Flowey hang on to Toriel's every word. Toriel appears to be enjoying herself and your company.

Later, you and Toriel sit at the table to eat some snail pie that she made. Flowey sits on the table in his new flower pot, having already finished his piece. The pie is actually pretty good if you ignore the weird texture. Toriel seems happy with you. As you eat, you try and strike up a conversation. You ask Toriel why she's all alone in the Ruins. Her expression becomes downcast. "Oh, my child, we need not to speak of such depressing things." Well that didn't work.

You ask Toriel to tell you about herself. She brightens a tiny bit. "I suppose I'm just a lonely woman who craves company. Few monsters talk to me, and the humans before you weren't always as hospitable as you and your friend are." You offer your comfort to Toriel. She smiles weakly at you. "Thank you my child. You are… you are very good."

You eat in silence for the rest of dinner. Flowey still hasn't worked up the nerve to talk to your captor, but you don't blame him. You would simply speak for the two of you. You tell Toriel that your name is Frisk, and that your friend's name is Flowey. She smiles lightly. "What an awfully convenient name for a flower. And Frisk is a wonderful name as well." An air of melancholy surrounds the goat woman, and you feel her inner sadness. You leave your chair and offer her a hug. Toriel seems to enjoy hugs. She accepts, and you practically melt into the softness of her fur. Flowey is looking at you enviously, but also sorrowful. You quickly scoop him up and bring him into the group hug too.

Tears gather in the corners of his eyes, but you pretend not to notice.

* * *

After a few more minutes of intense hugging, Toriel pulls away, cheeks flushed. The caretaker clears her throat. "Well, I shall head off to bed now. Do try and get some rest my child, I'd like to take you grocery shopping tomorrow." She smiles gently, and it strikes you how different the smile is from the first one she ever gave you. You like this smile much better. Toriel leaves and hurries off to her room.

Flowey finally brings his emotions under control. For some reason, his voice sounds different now, and his smile has small fangs that poke out from the sides. "F-Frisk, as m-much as I hate to say it, we can finally leave now. We know that Mo-Toriel is in her room. So we can quietly sneak out of here through the basement. This might be our only chance." Your heart breaks a little bit when you realize that Flowey's right. Toriel has finally given you her trust. This would be your only chance to leave.

But you don't _want_ to leave anymore. Toriel has been being so nice to you and Flowey lately. It feels like you could actually build a life here. Unfortunately, you know that the Ruins are too small for you to grow up in. You are completely sure that you would only become bored after a while. Adventure and curiosity are some of the only things that make you who you are. There must be more monsters that lie beyond the Ruins, monsters that probably needed a good friend. You sigh and nod at Flowey.

You quietly creep down the stairs, as to not attract Toriel's attention. You are then met with a long purple hallway. You aren't sure that you are completely ready to leave yet. You walk slowly through the basement, dreading the exit. Flowey's face and voice have gone back to normal, and you aren't sure how to feel about this. "I think the exit is just a little farther. Keep going Frisk, Toriel won't even notice that we left." He sounds more like he's trying to convince himself of this fact.

Sure enough, there's an enormous door that lies at the end of the hallway. Unfortunately, Toriel is blocking the way. She chuckles softly. "To think that I trusted you. To think that I almost loved you." Toriel eyes flash with rage. "HOW DARE YOU BETRAY ME!" You feel your heart, (not soul) break in two. Flowey looks like he's on the verge of tears. You're already crying. Toriel is unsympathetic.

"There are monsters that await you that are worse than I you insolent child. You were given a chance to be safe from the horrors that await you. But now," Toriel paused and laughed a little. "That chance is GONE! You will either kill me and prove you are strong enough to proceed, or I will kill you. It is your fault that I must do this my child, but I am not sorry."

You feel yourself enter a FIGHT.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 20/20**

 ***Toriel**

 **[FIGHT]** **[*ACT]** **[ITEM]** **[MERCY]**

 **[ACT]:** ***Check Talk**

 **100 ATK, 100 DEF. Mother knows best, they said. Listen to your mother, they said. But you didn't.**

Well, that was... something. Toriel throws enormous balls of fire at you, and it's impossible to dodge every one of them. You get hit. A lot.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 8/20**

 ***Toriel**

 **[FIGHT]** **[ACT]** **[ITEM]** **[*MERCY]**

 **[MERCY]:** ***Spare**

" **My child, the rules of this FIGHT are to either KILL or BE KILLED!"**

Toriel's comment reminds you a lot of Flowey when you first fell into the Underground. Speaking of Flowey, he's shouting at you. "Frisk! Pick me up and let me help you!" You pick up Flowey, and he summons a wall of bullets to block the fire magic. You are eternally grateful.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 20/20**

 ***Toriel**

 **[FIGHT]** **[ACT]** **[ITEM]** **[*MERCY]**

 **[MERCY]:** ***Spare**

" **Child, do you not understand? Kill me, or let me kill you!"**

You are certain that talking wouldn't help at all in this situation. Flowey's bullets do wonders to keep you from being hit, but sometime, fire flares through the spaces between bullets, and you get licked by the fire a little bit. Flowey turns to you with an expression of horror. "Frisk, MERCY isn't going to work on Toriel! Trust me, I've tried before. Plenty of other humans have tried, but nobody's ever been able to change her mind! We. Must. FIGHT!" Flowey is mad, but accepting of this at the same time.

You feel angry. Flowey is trying to convince you to harm someone. He's trying to convince you to harm someone who is almost like a mother to you, no matter how scary she is. You could never FIGHT Toriel. You scream at Flowey that you refuse, and then go back to showing Toriel MERCY.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 8/20**

 ***Toriel**

 **[FIGHT]** **[ACT]** **[ITEM]** **[*MERCY]**

 **[MERCY]:** ***Spare**

" **..."**

Toriel doesn't say anything this time, instead choosing to look at you confusedly. You think you are making progress, until she attacks you with everything that she's got. Flames come at you from every direction, and your soul just isn't able to dodge, despite Flowey's bullet shield surrounding you. You can feel yourself being burned alive from the onslaught of flames. Flowey shrieks and tries to keep you standing. Flowey's frantic voice reminds you that you can't give up, even if your name isn't Chara.

You manage not to die, but your HP is dangerously low. Flowey says he'll heal you this turn. "Make sure to run into the GREEN bullets! I like to call them, 'friendliness pellets'!" Says Flowey.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 1/20**

 ***Toriel**

 **[FIGHT]** **[ACT]** **[ITEM]** **[*MERCY]**

 **[MERCY]:** ***Spare**

" **..."**

Toriel still doesn't say anything, but the flames intensify. The once white fire has turned pitch black, making it much more intimidating, and hurt a lot more. As promised, Flowey sends a volley of friendliness pellets your way, and you touch as many of them as you can. Your HP is back to a healthy level. You thank Flowey. He looks absolutely spent. "Y...you're w-welcome F-F-Frisk. I'm… I'm sorry bu-but shielding and healing you took a lot out of me, it'll take me a couple of turns to get my strength back." Flowey mumbles tiredly.

You nod, understanding, and set him down behind you. You don't want Toriel's flames getting to Flowey when he's weak like this. You stand your ground and meet Toriel's eyes dead on. She's starting to look a little remorseful. Or at least sorry.

She attacks again anyway.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 15/20**

 ***Toriel**

 **[FIGHT]** **[ACT]** **[ITEM]** **[*MERCY]**

 **[MERCY]:** ***Spare**

" **... What are you doing?"**

Toriel's attacks have slowed down, and are much easier to dodge now. You learn the patterns that she sends them in. Flowey is still recovering from using all of his magic so quickly. You are DETERMINED to keep your friend safe from the fire.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 15/20**

 ***Toriel**

 **[FIGHT]** **[ACT]** **[ITEM]** **[*MERCY]**

 **[MERCY]:** ***Spare**

" **This is wrong Frisk. You cannot Spare every monster. You must learn to fight, you must learn to kill, if you wish to survive beyond the Ruins."**

Toriel's attacks speed up again and you're hit a few times. You think that you're finally getting through to her. Flowey's energy has returned, so you pick him up again so he can help you.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 9/20**

 ***Toriel**

 **[FIGHT]** **[ACT]** **[ITEM]** **[*MERCY]**

 **[MERCY]:** ***Spare**

" **Stop this at once."**

You ignore your goat mom. Flowey surrounds you, your soul, and himself with bullets, blocking the brunt of the fire. "Frisk, what are you going to do? You can't keep dodging forever. Soon Toriel will get tired of humoring you and just end it." You ignore your flower friend too.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 8/20**

 ***Toriel**

 **[FIGHT]** **[ACT]** **[ITEM]** **[*MERCY]**

 **[MERCY]:** ***Spare**

" **I've seen what you did to all the other monsters in the Ruins. I know you showed them the MERCY that you are showing to me.**

Toriel definitely looks much sadder now. Flowey prepares to fire friendliness pellets next turn.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 8/20**

 ***Toriel**

 **[FIGHT]** **[ACT]** **[ITEM]** **[*MERCY]**

 **[MERCY]:** ***Spare**

" **Monsters outside the Ruins are far crueler, and will not accept MERCY so easily. I certainly will not accept it."**

Toriel looks like she's trying to convince herself of this rather than you. You can see in her face that she's at least mildly upset. Toriel's attacks are aimed straight at your soul, and Flowey's friendliness pellets are the only things keeping you alive at this point. Dodging any of Toriel's attacks is completely impossible at this stage in the fight.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 8/20**

 ***Toriel**

 **[FIGHT]** **[ACT]** **[ITEM]** **[*MERCY]**

 **[MERCY]:** ***Spare**

" **M-my child, you need to understand this. Killing you now is MERCY in and of itself. There are monsters out there who would not end it quickly, and would rather watch you suffer. Please, let me do this. I'm doing this for you."**

Toriel doesn't even bother attacking this turn. Flowey looks like he knows exactly what Toriel's talking about, and nods his head at her sympathetically. Secretly though, he turns around and looks you in the eyes. "Frisk, now is our _only_ chance to end this FIGHT. Y-you have to FIGHT her this turn, otherwise she'll just kill you!" Flowey whispers. You let out a frightened noise at Flowey's idea. It fills you with disgust. How could you ever attack someone? At their most vulnerable moment no less! You shake your head at Flowey and turn to Toriel.

You open your arms and offer a hug. You firmly tell Toriel that you do not want to FIGHT her anymore. Tears gather in the woman's eyes and she tries to look away. But she can't seem muster up the will to do so. Toriel ends the FIGHT and runs toward you and engulfs you in the warmest hug you've ever received. Tears begin to form in your eyes too. You hug Tori-no. You hug you _mom_ harder and cry into her tattered dress, whispering apologies. Apologies for plotting against her. Apologies for disobeying her. But most of all, apologies for breaking her heart.

Toriel rubs your back in an affectionate manner. "My child, I am sorry as well. I brought you and Flowey here against your will. I was unkind to you. I am so sorry." She pulls away, and grasps your shoulders, as if steadying herself. She takes a deep breath, and then gives you a small, sad smile. "You know, one of the first humans to fall down here was Ch-Charlie." Toriel stutters at the child's name. "They were very kind to me, and I did my best to reciprocate. They stayed with me for weeks. The longest any recent human has ever stayed. We shared so many laughs, and books, and meals, and moments together. I felt… I felt better than I had in a long time. Charlie told me their reason for coming to the mountain is because their family was neglectful. I was determined to make them feel loved again. And I think I did, for a while anyway."

Toriel is tearing up now. You pull her into another heartfelt hug. "Unfortunately, Charlie became curious, as humans often do. They wanted to explore beyond the Ruins. I couldn't bring myself to let that happen." Tears stream down Toriel's face as she cries into your shoulder. Flowey is simply listening in the background, listening to Toriel's story with vivid attention. She continues her tale. "I… I p-po-poisoned them." You gasp, but you don't pull away. Flowey looks shattered, stricken with grief. He sobbed softly to himself about how he couldn't protect them. Toriel is sobbing now. "They never knew. I slipped it into a dish of mine and fed it to them. I told them that they would soon exit the Ruins. Charlie trusted me so blindly, they believed every word."

"They died the next day. I had a friend of mine outside transport their soul and body to **Asgore** , the King of Monsters." Toriel pulls back in order to look at you. The regret in her face is evident. "To this day, I am still disgusted with myself. I killed a child because I couldn't bear to let them leave me." She lets out a watery chuckle. "Funny isn't it? I am just as horrible as the monsters that I claim to protect you from. Every human from then on would bypass me, determined to never encounter me. I let them go. But for some reason, I couldn't let _you_ go Frisk. I just wanted to feel like a real mother again. To care for a child again. I am so sorry. Words cannot begin to describe how sorry I am. I hope that you can forgive me." You nod vigorously, murmuring that you forgive her. Toriel gives you another smile.

"I have something for you. I meant to give it to you later, but…" Toriel trails off. Then she reaches into her inventory and brings out a large, whole, pie. "It's a butterscotch cinnamon pie! I hope you don't mind either of the two, I never got to ask. I also have this cellphone for you. It can make calls in the Underground, but my phone was unfortunately taken by a very annoying white dog, so I will not be able to answer any of your calls. My friend outside the Ruins, his name is Sans, he has a phone. Tell him that the lady in the Ruins told reminds him to keep his promise." You take in all the information. You don't think that you're quite ready to leave the Ruins just yet. You want to stay with Toriel, if only for a night or two.

You tell this to Toriel. She narrows her eyes at you. Flowey looks at you in confusion. "I am sorry, but I do not think that a poor old woman like me could take that kind of pain again. Leave now, before I _make you_." The dangerous edge in Toriel's voice seeps in, but you take it as your cue to leave. You hug Toriel tight and tell her that you will miss her dearly. She hugs you back with just as much passion. "I will miss you too. Make it back to the surface for me, ok?" You smile, but you don't nod. You aren't sure that you can guarantee that.

You pull away from your mother and wave goodbye as you exit through the door with Flowey in your hands. Flowey waves goodbye with one of his leaves too, despite the fact that he had tried his hardest to distance himself from Toriel at all costs. You could swear that he's tearing up. The door closes shut behind you, and you walk slowly to the far exit. You still don't think you're completely ready for the world outside. From the way Toriel made it sound, the Ruins might as well have been a tutorial in comparison.

When you reach the exit, Flowey is definitely crying. As the door opens, you can hear him faintly whisper, "Goodbye, mom."

It's probably just your imagination.

* * *

 **I forgot to tell you to put on your seatbelts didn't I? Yeah, we're taking a** _ **Feel Trip**_ **in this story now. Oh well, I'm sure that some of you survived. But get ready, this wild ride has only just begun.**

 **By the way, that opening author's note was just a little joke. Don't take it seriously. (But the thing about the pairings was true. Go to my profile to vote.) You guys have been so supportive and nice to me, it's a little overwhelming.** _ **Tibia**_ **honest, I thought you guys would respond to this story similar to the situation at the top. But this story has 34 frickin reviews. 52 frikin followers. And 35 frikin favorites. I'm so happy that I'm crying right now. You all just keep being awesome, and I'll keep this story going. Deal?**


	5. Snowdin Forest: Spooky Scary Skeletons

**Author's Note: Hey guys! I... I honestly have no words about how positive you guys are being. Well… that's a lie. I do have few words about this development. Why are you all being so… nice to me? I just can't understand. You guys have been overwhelmingly supportive. You have no idea just how much this means to me. It's heartwarming to know just how many people are following this story. It's always a delight to see that someone else considers this story their favorite. And it's so uplifting every single time I read a new review. Thank you all so much for all of this. I really can't believe how nice the Undertale fandom is. It's like, the minute I start writing for this fandom, everybody explodes with happiness. (Including me.) So y'all just keep on doing what you're doing.**

 **By the way, regarding the chapter. One of my only problems with Undertale is that you enter all of these extreme climates like Snowdin, Waterfall, and Hotland, but your character never has an extreme,** _ **human**_ **reactions with the extreme weather or conditions.**

 **Let's have a real talk for a moment. If I or any of you were Frisk, there's a good chance that none of us would have made it through Snowdin** _ **or**_ **Hotland. And I imagine that Waterfall is very humid and wet all the time due to being smushed in between a very cold place and a very hot one.**

 **And you can't tell me that temperature does not apply or that magic is what keeps Frisk from being affected, because in Hotland,** _ **plastic**_ **, I repeat,** _ **plastic**_ **evaporated right out of Frisk's hands. And Undyne and RG02 are both affected by Hotland's heat. And, Undyne is affected by the cold of Snowdin, even though she is a monster with a body made of** _ **magic**_ **. I'm absolutely sure that a human, with skin and no fur, would be affected even worse by that kind of thing.**

 **So, it's my headcanon that in Underfell, Frisk must undergo the consequences of the extreme climate. Enjoy Frisk's impending hypothermia!**

* * *

The minute you and Flowey step outside of the Ruins, you regret your decision to leave. The air outside is frigid, and your teeth are already chattering after being outside for only a minute and you're shivering and your breath is frozen and it's so gosh darn _**cold**_. As you stand, Flowey glances at you from his flower pot. "Frisk, are you okay?" You shake your head, and then curl into a ball in the snow in a feeble attempt to conserve your body heat. You realize immediately that sitting on the snow covered path is a dumb idea. Flowey face leaves as he remembers something. "Oh man! I completely forgot that humans can't withstand the cold in Snowdin Forest. Well, at least not without some thick clothing."

Flowey, who had been dropped to the ground in your haste to become warmer, critically investigates your thin clothing. Your pants are ripped up even more, and your new shoes don't seem to be doing very much good without your socks. Your ratty blue and magenta sweater isn't made for anything harsher than chilly autumn winds, and even then it doesn't do the best job of that either. Flowey frantically tries to think of a plan, while also reassuring you. "Frisk, everything's going to be okay! But you _need_ to keep moving if you want to get warmer! Sitting here and freezing to death won't do anything!" Flowey urges. You know that Flowey's right, but you really just want to lie down in the snow forever.

You slowly rise from your position, and shakily pick up Flowey's pot from the ground. You're starting to lose feeling in your feet, and you're afraid you're going to catch frostbite, or pneumonia, or hypothermia, or something to that effect out here. You take a tentative step forward, and a small part you feels like giving up and just letting yourself freeze out here. But rest of you is far too DETERMINED to move on with Flowey. You keep walking at a snail's pace, until you encounter a big stick. It's too heavy to pick up. It reminds you a little bit of the stick you fell down with. You give it a sentimental pat. You step over it and keep going.

Before you can even take another two steps forward, the stick behind you cracks into pieces.

Flowey goes into panic mode. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god! Somebody is following us. Please hurry Frisk!" Flowey whisper shouts. You nod, and press onward. As you slowly advance down the path you hear footsteps behind you and can faintly make out the shadow of a person from your peripheral vision. You speed up despite the chilly wind pushing against you.

You finally encounter a bridge. There's nothing stopping you so you try to keep moving. 'Try' is the keyword. You find yourself stuck in place by a weird red force. Footsteps can be heard getting louder behind you. Flowey looks scared out of his mind. You shiver harder, and it isn't just because of the cold anymore. The footsteps ground to a halt. You hear a deep, dark, ominous voice talking to you from behind you.

 **Human. Don't You Know How To Greet A New Pal? Turn Around And Shake My Hand.**

The red magic forcefully spins you around, but releases you from its, frankly unsettling, hold. The mystery monster thrusts out their hand. You shakily bring yours out to meet theirs. Flowey's breath hitches for a moment.

As soon as your hands meet, a cage of bones surrounds you and the stranger steps out of the shadows. It's a skeleton, a male skeleton as far as you can tell, and a grin is plastered on his face. His teeth are all sharpened to a point, and a single gold tooth stands out to you. In his left eye socket, an ominous red light glows. His right eye socket is completely black. A black hoodie hangs off his big boned form, and the blood red t-shirt underneath completes the 'I'm the Hot Topic posterboy' look. He's wearing a pair of black basketball shorts with single stripes of gold down either side. Some parts of his bony feet are exposed because of the scarlet house slippers that adorn his feet.

The stranger retracts his hand and lets out a chuckle. "heh heh, finally got 'em this time. so, i'm sans, sans the skeleton. you're a human right?" You don't reply. Flowey glares at Sans with a murderous hatred, but also a glint of… pity? Sans continues talking to you. "i guess you must be. who's the little daisy?"

Flowey explodes with rage. "I AM NOT A DAISY! DON'T **EVER** CALL ME THAT AGAIN YOU SMILEY TRASH BAG!" Sans simply shrugs off Flowey's insult. "whatever buttercup." Flowey groans in frustration. You are feeling very claustrophobic in the cage of bones. You reach out to touch one, but quickly jump back as it stings you. Luckily, it doesn't do any real damage to you.

The skeleton somehow smiles even wider. "i can't wait to see the look on pap's face when i show him to you. to think that a lazy bones like me could capture a human and their pet plant in slippers." You're far too intimidated to speak to Sans directly, so you whisper what you want to say to Flowey. Flowey hears your whispered message loud and clear, and then turns to Sans with a smug look on his face.

"I hate to break it to you Sans, but we were sent by the lady in the Ruins. She said that you have to keep your 'promise'. Flowey says triumphantly from behind the bars. You suddenly worry that the promise is a bad one. You also come to the conclusion that if you survive this ordeal in the underground, you're probably going to be a pessimist for the rest of your life.

Sans doesn't look very impressed. "oh yeah? well, i'm gonna need some proof that she thinks _you_ kiddos are special enough to get her protection." You think about this. Then you reach into your inventory and pull out the butterscotch cinnamon pie. You show it off to Sans. The red light in his eye widens comically. "she gave you an entire pie! man, she must really think there's something special about you. i could only ever get that lady to give me 1/16 of the goddamn thing!" You put the pie away and then gesture to your bone prison. Sans gives a deep sigh.

"i really hate you kid, you know that? you were my one shot at getting papyrus to recognize me for something cool, but you just had to ruin it, didn't you?" Regardless of his complaints, Sans gets rid of the cage with a swipe of his bony hand. He looks you up and down, as if sizing you up. "you know, my brother will most likely kill you on sight if you don't hide somewhere in the next like," Sans glances at a nonexistent watch, "the next 12 seconds." You quickly run across the bridge and leave Sans in the snow. In the next clearing, you see a very conveniently shaped lamp and dart behind it. Despite you now feeling dizzy and nauseous, you'd rather brace the cold than meet San's brother.

From your hiding spot, you can hear angry footsteps approaching the area. A loud, angry voice starts speaking. "SANS! WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN DOING?" You can hear Sans' calm voice reply. "oh you know papyrus, staring at that very conveniently shaped lamp." You freeze up (no pun intended) in your hiding spot, and quickly throw a hand over Flowey's mouth to keep him from screaming. Is Sans _trying_ to get you killed?

Papyrus is hardly amused. "SANS, I HONESTLY DON'T KNOW _WHY_ I EVEN PUT UP WITH YOU! ALL YOU **EVER** DO IS LAZE ABOUT! YOU ARE A HORRIBLE EXCUSE FOR A SIBLING!"

You can practically _hear_ Sans wincing. Obviously Papyrus' comment hurt him a lot. "wow bro, that really cuts deep, almost down to the bo-" apparently Sans was going to insert some bad pun there, but thought better of it.

"SANS, I HAVE NO DOUBT IN MY MIND THAT YOU WERE ABOUT TO SAY A PUN RIGHT THERE! YOU'LL HAVE TO BE **PUNISHED** FOR THIS!" You suddenly understand why Flowey had eyed Sans with pity earlier. His brother must be _awful_. You're reminded of your life before M.T. Ebott. You know the feeling of someone who's supposed to be your family be horrible to you.

You almost come out from behind the lamp to give this Papyrus guy a piece of your mind, but Sans begins to speak again. "it… won't happen again paps." Papyrus groans. "YOU ARE FULLY AWARE THAT I, _THE GREAT PAPYRUS_ DESPISE THAT DREADFUL NAME! YOU ARE TO ADDRESS ME THE PROPER WAY! I AM **ABOVE** YOU IN EVERY ASPECT OF THE WORD, AND YOU KNOW IT! I MEAN, YOU HAVEN'T EVEN SUCCESSFULLY KILLED A HUMAN YET!"

You flinch a little bit. You really don't like that idea. Flowey hides in the dirt of his flower pot. You envy him. All you could hide behind is this awfully conveniently shaped lamp.

Sans starts talking again. "my apologies, oh great papyrus. i will be eternally shamed for slandering your title." he says sarcastically. You inwardly giggle at Sans' antics.

"THAT WILL SUFFICE FOR NOW. SANS, GET BACK TO WORK, AND DO NOT FORGET YOUR PROMISE TO MYSELF! I WILL INFORM UNDYNE OF THE CURRENT LACK OF HUMANS."

"you get right on that br-great papyrus."

You hear loud clunking exiting the clearing. You're glad Papyrus is gone, his voice was really starting to get on your nerves. You step out from behind the conveniently shaped lamp and gaze at Sans with a look of sympathy on your usually stoic face. You mentally note that you've become much more expressive since falling into this new, monstrous world.

Sans groans. "kid, i don't need you and every other monster and their mother telling me sorry because papyrus is a shitty brother. i've dealt with him for so long it'd be weird if he wasn't like that." Sans sighs. "look kid, you gotta stay away from paps. he'll resort to any and all means to capture and _kill_ you. he's dangerous, even when he doesn't try to be." Sans gets a weird look on his skeletal face, like a person in a movie who knows when the end of the world is, but can do nothing to prevent it from coming to pass.

You ask Sans what promise he made to Toriel. Sans lets out a low chuckle at this. "look kid, that promise i made to that old hag was a mistake, and should have never even thought about it. but… she did give me that piece of pie, and i caved. she told me to escort any human that came through here with pie, or a cellphone to **asgore** personally."

"the last few humans that came through snowdin didn't have either of those things, so they didn't get tori's seal of approval. i left them to their devices. but then you came along, and now i have to _protect_ a human instead of just letting it go." Sans exhales deeply, and kicks at the snowy ground. You try and give Sans a comforting pat on his shoulder, but he slaps your hand away when he sees it.

"kid, didn't i tell you i don't want pity? now leave me alone, you got places to be and i do too. seeya around." And with that, Sans took off in the direction of the dense forest. You wonder where he's going to go from there.

The cold hits you once again, stronger this time. You fall to your knees and Flowey squeaks in surprise. "Frisk, you can't just give up now! We literally just got here, aren't humans supposed to be DETERMINED or something?" You feel a little insulted. Even the most DETERMINED of humans would still contract hypothermia. You tell Flowey that standing up and walking around in cold like this is a bad idea for humans. He looks at you skeptically. "Oh, and sitting down and freezing _is_ good for humans?" You sigh and struggle to your feet. You really hope there's some kind of town nearby.

As you look around, you notice a little sentry station made of metal near the edge of the woods. You walk over to it and take a peek inside. At first glance, it seems like a sentry station, but now that you are looking closer you discover bottles of mustard, ketchup, relish, and an array of various other condiments inside. But there's mostly mustard.

You turn away from the sentry station\hotdog stand and press onward. The minute you step into the next area with Flowey, you encounter a monster.

 **Snowdrake flutters forth!**

You really don't want to do this right now, but at least the battle box isn't cold. You place Flowey off to the side and stare down at Snowdrake.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 20/20**

 ***Snowdrake**

 **[FIGHT]** **[*ACT]** **[ITEM]** **[MERCY]**

 **[ACT]:** ***Check Funny Mean Advice**

 **8 ATK, 4 DEF. This homeless teen can only find vicarious joy through awesome comedians.**

" **I HATE EVERYTHING!"**

You feel pretty bad for the poor kid. He must be going through the alleged 'angry\goth\depressed\runaway\emo teenager phase that you used to hear about a lot. Maybe teens like that have some reason behind their bad attitudes. You don't ponder Snowdrake's situation much longer, as the teenager starts throwing magical bullets at you. You dodge them all with relative ease.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 20/20**

 ***Snowdrake**

 **[FIGHT]** **[*ACT]** **[ITEM]** **[MERCY]**

 **[ACT]:** **Check *Funny Mean Advice**

 **You tell Snowdrake about a hilarious story about the one time some human comedian's mom allowed him to curse. Snowdrake and Flowey start laughing their heads off.**

" **Haha, that was hilarious! YOU BETTER MIND YOUR D***, MO*********** BUSINESS B****! Hahaha! I wish** _ **I**_ **was that funny."**

Snowdrake attacks again, but it's more playful than anything else. Flowey attempting to imitate your imitation of the teacher from the story.

It's really funny watching him try.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 20/20**

 ***Snowdrake**

 **[FIGHT]** **[*ACT]** **[ITEM]** **[MERCY]**

 **[ACT]:** **Check Funny Mean *Advice**

 **You inform Snowdrake that being funny is easy, you just got to take any given experience from your life and put a humorous twist on it. Snowdrake looks thoughtful.**

" **Heh, I guess your right! Being funny isn't about belittling people, Dad was wrong!"**

Snowdrake looks like he's found the answer to world peace. He attacks you again, but there's barely any effort put into it. You dodge the snow with a practiced ease.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 20/20**

 ***Snowdrake**

 **[FIGHT]** **[ACT]** **[ITEM]** **[*MERCY]**

 **[MERCY]:** ***Spare**

 **You WON! You earned 0 EXP and 53 gold.**

You pick up Flowey from the snowy ground. All that dodging is really starting to wear down on you, and the merciless cold is _really_ getting to you now. You try to find the DETERMINATION to SAVE.

But you just, _can't_ for some reason.

Flowey eyes you with concern. "Frisk are you okay?"

You shake your head. You notify him about your lack of DETERMINATION. His eyes widen comically. "You can't SAVE? This… this is _really_ bad. I'm pretty sure it's the cold, Snowdin's chill always did have a weird affect on the humans that came through here. You're going to have to be extra careful until we get to **Snowdin Town**. Dying would send you all the way back to the Ruins!" Flowey warns.

You wearily nod your head and explore the area that you are in. You see a little brown box with a golden latch sitting on the edge of the path. You walk over to the sign beside it and read.

 _This is a box._

 _You can put an item inside, or take an item out._

 _The same box will appear later, so don't worry about coming back._

 _Sincerely, an explainer of the purpose of dimensional boxes._

You send your thanks out the mysterious monster who created the box. You open up the box and look inside. There is a little glove inside, just a single glove. You take it out and put it into your inventory. You decide to put some of the other random things in your inventory into the box. All have in your inventory are some meager things that you collected in the Ruins, as well as the stuff Toriel gifted to you. You carefully put the forever warm butterscotch-cinnamon pie into the box, saving it for later. You almost toss your bandage in there too, but you instead choose to just get rid of it, since you'll likely never use it again. Besides, it brings up painful memories of your life on the surface.

You put the Toy Knife in the box too, because getting rid of it would be really insensitive to Charlie. Flowey seems to be fond of it anyway. You store the Spider Donut in there too. You only want to eat it as a last resort, since it is sort of gross. And finally, you lay down your stick in the icy snow, because this glove looks way more interesting.

You step away from the very helpful box to examine the glove. It's a worn, pink leather glove. For five fingered folk. After some quick deliberation, you equip it, since you have five fingers. It's your size. Flowey is inspecting the glove too. "Heh. That's Hayden's Tough Glove, or whatever they called it. I didn't know that they made it to Snowdin." Flowey is lost in his own memories, a sad smile adorning his face. "Yeah, Hayden was like the exact opposite of Charlie. Charlie was always very PATIENT, and waited for things to happen. But Hayden was very BRAVE, and liked to rush headfirst into things." You kinda start wishing that you had known these kids, as they sound like your kind of people. You pat Flowey's head, an action that had become something comforting to the little flower, and trek north, looking for adventure.

All that you find is a fishing rod that is affixed to the ground. You reel it in, curious. There is a note attached to the end of it.

 _If you are reading this, then I'm gonna find you and kill your family._

You aren't sure how to respond to this anonymous threat, so you send the line back out.

Flowey is shaking in his pot. "Oh man, I forgot how creepy and mean and horrible the people in Snowdin are! I mean, an anonymous death threat? That's pretty intense, even for the average Snowdin citizen." You wonder if going to this town is really the best idea.

You go back down to the box road and turn left.

You immediately regret turning left.

You are greeted by the sight of Sans and a much taller skeleton who you assume is Papyrus. Papyrus is quite frightening to be honest. His teeth are all sharpened to points, kind of like Sans, but more menacing somehow. Around his neck is a blood red cape that reaches the ground. It's blowing out behind him in the freezing wind, just adding to his imposing figure. He's wearing a black metal chest-plate with a little insignia on top right of it. The little design reminds you of the design on Toriel's dress. Shiny black metal gloves cover Papyrus' hands and go all the way to his elbow joints. Black boots made of metal adorn his feet, and go all the way up to his knee caps. And finally, around his pelvis are, (You guessed it!) some shiny black metal… underwear? You can't really tell, nor do you particularly care.

"UNDYNE IS _VERY_ UNHAPPY WITH YOU SANS! SLACKING OFF BY STARING AT CONVENIENTLY SHAPED LAMPS IS PUNISHABLE BY-"

You had been in the process of slowly backing away when Papyrus notices your presence. You cringe as his gaze falls upon you. Papyrus looks you up and down, and then his eyes narrow and a creepy smile comes to his skeletal face.

"NYEH HEH HEH! IT'S A HUMAN! ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE MYSELF! I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS, ROYAL GUARD, SECOND IN COMMAND!" Papyrus bows, his cape billowing behind him. Sans looks bored out of his mind, like he's heard his brother give this introduction a million times.

Flowey interjects. "Hey! Can you let us pass please? We really need to get to Snowdin so that Fri- I mean the human won't die from the cold." Papyrus chuckles a bit.

"NYEH HEH HEH HEH! YOU THINK THAT I WOULD BATTLE THE LIKES OF YOU IN AN AREA SUCH AS THIS? OF COURSE NOT! INSTEAD, YOU SHALL BE TESTED! IF YOU PASS, THEN YOU WILL BE DEEMED WORTHY TO BE CAPTURED BY A GUARD AS MAGNIFICENT AS ME!" Papyrus shouts. You really hate tests. They make you nervous. You timidly ask Papyrus what happens if you fail. Papyrus puts on a mischievous expression.

"IF THAT EVER WERE TO OCCUR, THEN MY LAZY BROTHER SANS WOULD APPREHEND YOU IMMEDIATELY!" Papyrus casts Sans a smug look. Sans looks at the ground and kicks the snow in mock defeat. "WE MADE A BET."

Your narrowed eyes narrow even further at Sans. Why would Sans make a bet that contradicts another promise that he made? Which came first, Papyrus' bet or Toriel's promise? What will Sans do?

Useless questions spin inside your brain and get all jumbled up. Flowey begins shouting at Sans and you nearly miss your opportunity to stop him.

"What? Are you kidding me! How could you place a bet with Mr. Narcissism over here when you already made a promise to To-!" You pinch one of Flowey's petals to shut him up. "Ouch! Frisk, that hurt!" Flowey whisper shouts at you. You shrug. You don't want Sans to get in trouble with his brother, traitor or not.

Papyrus doesn't seem to notice. Or if he noticed, then he's doing a great job of ignoring it.

"SO PREPARE YOURSELF HUMAN, AND TINY TALKING FLOWER, FOR TESTS! TRAPS! TRIALS! AND TRIBULATIONS! AND, POSSIBLY SOME TEARS! NYEH HEH HEH HEH!" Evidently pleased with himself, Papyrus stalks away from the area.

You turn to Sans. Sans turns away from you. "the bet i made with pap… that was a long time ago. i actually forgot about it, since none of the humans ever caught my interest. now, i'm gonna have to follow through since papyrus knows that i'll be around. so just… don't fail the test alright? i'll be around as a cheat sheet for you if you really need it. later, kid and talking houseplant."

You can practically see the proverbial daggers in Flowey's death glare. You can also hear him curse under his breath. You choose to ignore him, because they're aimed at Sans, not you. Although, you kind of wonder what goes on in Flowey's head, due to his… colorful choice of words.

You advance through the area and come across a well crafted metal sentry station. There's a sign on it. You read,

 _YOU OBSERVE THE WELL CRAFTED SENTRY STATION. WHO COULD HAVE BUILT THIS YOU WONDER? GUESS WHAT, IT WAS CREATED BY THAT VERY FAMOUS (AND HANDSOME) ROYAL GUARDSMAN WHO GOES BY THE NAME OF PAPYRUS!_

Flowey shakes his head dismissively. "That guy is so full of himself! I don't understand why Sans hasn't just gotten rid of him already, i'm sure nobody would miss him." You look at Flowey, horrified. You tell him that's a horrible thing to say about someone. Flowey shrugs with his leaves. "It's just the truth! Papyrus is horrible to everybody, he's not going to give MERCY and he isn't going to accept it either. Smiley trash bag is right, we should just steer clear of him completely." You refuse to believe that Papyrus is incapable of change. He has to have some kind of redeeming qualities… right?

You walk to the next area, and are met with a sign.

 _Please move around so Doggo can see you. Thank you!_

You are instantly suspicious. If the Underground has taught you anything, it's that most of the monsters aren't very nice until you're nice to them. You tentatively move around if front of a seemingly empty sentry post. You even ring a little silver bell that's on the counter. Slowly, a very menacing looking dog peeks out from behind the counter. Its eyes are shifting all over the place.

"Yes! A human actually fell for that! Keep moving little human!" his gravelly voice rings out. You realize quickly that you have been duped.

Well crap.

 **Doggo blocks the way!**

"Darn it! I forgot about Doggo! He can only see moving things! If you stay still while he attacks you, then he won't be able to see you!" Flowey tells you. You nod, determined to make it past Doggo.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 20/20**

 ***Doggo**

 **[FIGHT]** **[*ACT]** **[ITEM]** **[MERCY]**

 **[ACT]:** ***Check Plea Punch**

 **Pet**

 **8 ATK, 3 DEF. This enemy can only see moving things. Hobbies include: battling humans.**

" **Move your body where I can see it!"**

You then look on in horror as Doggo pulls out a light blue knife, and swipes at your soul. Your first instinct is to run away, but you remember Flowey's advice and patiently stay still. All that you feel is a pleasantly cold breeze moving through you.

 **Doggo can't seem to find anything.**

" **Hey! Where'd you go?"**

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 20/20**

 ***Doggo**

 **[FIGHT]** **[*ACT]** **[ITEM]** **[MERCY]**

 **[ACT]:** **Check Plea Punch *Pet**

 **You pet Doggo.**

Doggo starts flipping out and chucking blue daggers at you. "WHO PET ME? I'LL DESTROY THEM!" This seems like the perfect time to make your escape.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 20/20**

 ***Doggo**

 **[FIGHT]** **[ACT]** **[ITEM]** **[*MERCY]**

 **[MERCY]:** **Spare *Flee**

 **I'm outta here!**

You pick up Flowey and make a break for it. "Frisk! You're ok, right?" Flowey questions, concerned. You nod vigorously but your insides are still churning with fear. Doggo is very menacing. You truly hope that you don't run into him again. You observe that Doggo has returned to his little station, his narrow eyes looking right through you.

"S-som-something pet me! And then it fled like a little coward! If I ever see it move again, I'll destroy it!" As Doggo sinks back into his station, you run away to the next area.

If you encounter another dog, it'll be too soon.

* * *

 **Sorry for the craptastic chapter. I just wanted to get something out there before something crazy like a month went by. I've been dealing with some writer's block recently, and would really appreciate ideas from you guys. By the way, this is the edited version of the chapter, fanfiction wouldn't let me do Sans' creepy broken up text thing when he greets you, so I had to settle for that. Seeya soon!**

 **-Lea**


	6. Snowdin Forest: Descent to Madness

**Oh writer's block. Damn you. Thank you all for being patient and sticking with this story despite the lack of updates. But now, April Vacation is here, and updates will be much more frequent than normal this week, and hopefully the weeks to come. I'll try to stock up a good amount of chapters this week and put them out as I write more. This chapter is mostly filler, just like all the chapters that lead up to boss fights. Enjoy!**

 **(PS, this story is now being cross-posted on AO3! For those of you who don't know what that stands for, it is Archive Of Our Own.)**

 **(PPS, Possible Trigger Warning for Blood.)**

* * *

In the next clearing, you spot Sans waiting for you. He turns to acknowledge you. "heya kid. i got something important to tell ya. my brother has a very **special attack** -" Flowey cuts him off before he can finish.

"If you're talking about **blue** attacks, then you're a little too late. We just ran into Doggo." Sans raises an eyebrow, _*(It's more like an eye bone.)_ but says nothing. You stand there in awkward silence until Flowey breaks it. "Which way to Snowdin Town? We need to get there soon." Sans laughs.

"why do you _want_ to go to snowdin? that place is a mess with all of the royal bullies running around! and, my brother lives there. didn't i just tell you to steer clear of him?" Flowey sighs.

"We don't really have any other options if we want to get to Asgore. Aren't you supposed to be guiding us? There's not really anything to worry about. Fighting Papyrus is inevitable."

You nod your head in agreement. As much as you don't want to, you're certain that encountering Papyrus is bound to happen at some point. Sans rolls his eye. "if you don't want my advice, you coulda just left. don't say i didn't warn you." With that, Sans took the opportunity to walk in the wrong direction and disappear to… somewhere. You're not really sure how Sans is able to get ahead of you.

At this point, you're shaking so badly from the cold, that you'll probably drop Flowey again. You opt to place his pot on top of your head. It's a lot easier to carry him this way. Flowey shrieks in surprise. "Hey! Let me down from here!" You shake your head and giggle as Flowey grips the edges of his pot for dear life.

In front of you, there's a patch of ice with a sign in the middle of it. You slide your way to the middle in order to read the sign.

 _North: Ice_

 _South: Ice_

 _West: Ice_

 _East: Snowdin Town… and Ice_

That's... a lot of ice. You're really not looking forward to it. You head north and encounter a snowman in a clearing. The snowman is frowning at you.

"Let me guess, you've come to mock me because you're able to travel and _I'm_ stuck here! Well guess what? I don't care anymore!" You feel pretty bad for the immobile snowman. You suddenly get a great idea.

You ask the snowman if he would like for you to bring a piece of him and bring it along on your journey. The snowman looks thoughtful. "How do I know that you won't just take more pieces of me and eat them?" You promise the snowman that you will do no such thing. The snowman gives in. "Alright, fine. Here you go."

You get the Snowman Piece. You bid farewell to the snowman. Out of the the corner of your eye, you see that the Snowman's permanent frown is now a small smile.

The second that you leave the clearing, you encounter another monster.

 **Icecap blocks the way!**

The teenager in front of you has a very imposing hat on its head. Normally, you would feel threatened, but with Flowey on top of your head, you feel that you are equally matched. Speaking of Flowey, the flower groans in frustration. "Why are the teenagers in this place so annoying?!" You roll your eyes and begin the battle.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 19/19**

 ***Icecap**

 **[FIGHT]** **[*ACT]** **[ITEM]** **[MERCY]**

 **[ACT]:** ***Check Compliment Ignore Steal**

 **9 ATK, 4 DEF. This miserable teen's arms are too short to remove its atrociously tacky hat.**

" **I hate this stupid thing!"**

You find yourself being forced to dodge giant spiky hats that are aimed at your soul. These battles are getting more ridiculous by the minute. At least, Flowey seems to think so, with all of the ranting he's doing. Eventually, he gives you some advice.

"Frisk, just ignore them! They don't like their hat right? So don't point it out." It _sounds_ like solid advice, so you try to listen to your friend for once.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 19/19**

 ***Icecap**

 **[FIGHT]** **[*ACT]** **[ITEM]** **[MERCY]**

 **[ACT]:** **Check Compliment *Ignore Steal**

 **You ignore Icecap's hat. Icecap seems downtrodden.**

" **Even you're ignoring me! All because of my stupid hat!"**

Well, at least Flowey _tried_ to be helpful. Unfortunately, his advice doesn't work for Icecaps. This time, you have to navigate through a maze of icicles. They are so unexpected, that you take a hit for the first time since entering Snowdin. Flowey screams in terror and you notice for the first time that your health bar was a light blue color. Not like the blue of Doggo's knife, but the same shade of blue as the ice that you had slid across earlier. Even more worrisome was the fact that you only had a maximum of 19 HP. You don't know why this is, but it just means you'll have to be extra careful when fighting monsters.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 16/19**

 ***Icecap**

 **[FIGHT]** **[*ACT]** **[ITEM]** **[MERCY]**

 **[ACT]:** **Check *Compliment Ignore Steal**

 **You compliment Icecap's hat. It looks at you, confused.**

" **You like it?"**

Before you can nod your head for confirmation, Icecap is attacking you with hats again. They are much easier to dodge than the maze of icicles. You think that you know how to convince Icecap to stop fighting you.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 16/19**

 ***Icecap**

 **[FIGHT]** **[*ACT]** **[ITEM]** **[MERCY]**

 **[ACT]:** **Check *Compliment Ignore Steal**

 **You inform Icecap that its hat looks awesome. Icecap takes your compliment in stride.**

" **Thanks!"**

Icecap looks much happier. They attack you again, excited. You don't want to dampen their mood so as you dodge you keep complimenting them. Flowey is perched atop your head, and mumbles about you being a suck up. You tug one of Flowey's leaves in retaliation. You can practically _feel_ his pouting. Icecap eagerly awaits your next move, so you turn your attention to the monster in front of you.

 **FRISK:** **LV 1** **-** **HP 16/19**

 _ ***Icecap**_

 **[FIGHT]** **[ACT]** **[ITEM]** **[*MERCY]**

 **[MERCY]:** ***Spare Flee**

 **You WON! You earned 0 XP and 57 gold.**

An uncomfortable silence settles upon you and Flowey as you exit the battle. Until Flowey breaks it with an unholy screech. "WHAT! YOU ONLY HAVE **19 HP**!" You hear Flowey starting to hyperventilate and mutter to himself. You can't make out what he's saying, but you catch something about you dying. You try to soothe him with calming murmurs. You sigh and choose to continue.

As you move to the next space, dread replaces whatever was left of your determination. In front of you are Sans and Papyrus, a wicked smile upon the latter's skeletal face. They had been waiting for you to show up. Sans turns away from you, and you can't see his face. You imagine that his expression is apologetic. Papyrus begins to shout at you.

"NYEH HEH HEH! WELCOME HUMAN AND FLOWER TO YOUR FIRST TEST! IN ORDER TO STOP YOU, MY… BROTHER AND I HAVE CREATED SOME TRAPS! FIRST UP, THE INVISIBLE… ELECTRICITY MAZE!" Says the tall skeleton as he gestures to the space that separates you from the skeleton brothers. You gaze fearfully at the empty space. Flowey has gone silent, clearly in deep thought. Papyrus chuckles softly. "AFRAID HUMAN? YOU SHOULD BE! NYEH HEH HEH!" The skeletal monster pulls an object from his pocket.

"WHEN YOU COLLIDE WITH THE WALLS OF THE MAZE, THIS ORB WILL ADMINISTER A HEARTY ZAP!" He rolls the blue orb towards you. "I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM 100% CERTAIN THAT YOU CANNOT PASS THIS TEST! HUMANS SIMPLY AREN'T COMPETENT ENOUGH TO UNDERSTAND THE LOGISTICS OF MY CLEVERLY COOKED TRAPS!" You're insulted. You choose not to respond. Instead, you tug one of Flowey's leaves and ask if he has a plan. Flowey hums in thought for a minute.

"We need to be careful about this, you only have a max HP of 19… wait a minute! The taller one said that the _orb_ zaps you?" You nod in confirmation. Flowey's whole face lights up with mischief. "Well, I have the perfect plan!" He proceeds to whisper into your ear and you slowly nod. If Papyrus wasn't going to play fair, then neither would you!

You call out to Papyrus. He glares at you. "WHY HAVEN'T YOU STEPPED INTO THE TRAP YET?" You throw the orb at him as hard as you can. He catches it, confused. Sans looks up for the first time since you stepped in. With Papyrus distracted, you run into the invisible maze, making sure to hit at least a couple walls. The orb shocks Papyrus so badly that he's preoccupied enough for you to hastily back out of the maze and go around it. You speedily run past the two brothers and into the next room.

Behind you, you can hear Papyrus screeching and cursing and shouting at his brother to follow you as he regains his bearings. You hear Sans laughing hysterically at the escape you just pulled, and then the sharp ' _smack'_ of bone hitting bone. Sans' laughter stops abruptly. You tune out the rest, afraid of what you might hear. " _Poor Sans."_ you think to yourself. You really want to help Sans in his situation, but you aren't sure how.

You shake away your thoughts about the shorter skeleton, and take some time to examine your new location. The first thing you notice is a bright blue bunny monster at an ice cream stand. The poor guy looks depressed and mad. "Why the hell aren't there any customers! It's the perfect weather for something cold!" He laughs a little to himself, then shakes his head in despair. You walk up to the blue bunny man and he looks up to glare at you.

He's wearing a pinstriped red shirt, with yellow stripes. His fur is messy and matted and dirty. You fish out some gold coins from your pockets, then point to the ice cream stand. His expression shifts from anger to curiosity. "You… you _want_ to buy my Nice Cream?" he looks dubious. You nod and hold the gold out to him. He shakes off his surprise and smirks at you. "Hahaha! Well kid, you're the first to ever want to buy the most delicious frozen treat this side of the Underground! You deserve a discount. One Nice Cream, for 1,000 gold!" Your face falls and your eyes sting. You don't have enough money…

The Nice Cream man continues to laugh, but Flowey interrupts him. " _Excuse_ me! That's a _discount_?! Only Temmies have that kind of cash!" Flowey gestures to you as you sniffle and conjure up the most adorable puppy dog face you can muster, catching on to Flowey's bargaining idea. Satisfied with your cuteness, Flowey looks back up at the Nice Cream guy. "How could you do that to a child who only wants to help you out?"

The Nice Cream Vendor tries to avoid your gaze, but to no avail. Nobody can resist that face. He sighs, his head sinking and he shuffles his feet. "Sorry kid, it's just that no one wants to buy my Nice Cream, ever! Hell, I've gotten _death_ threats for trying to spread a little positivity in this dark, miserable hole," You feel for the poor guy. You wonder how long he's had to put up with the monsters that live here. He continues. "I just, kinda need the money, or else I'm gonna lose my house..." The Nice Cream guy trails off. You reach up and pat his shoulder sympathetically. You register that you don't feel cold anymore, but you're too tired to really care. You're too occupied with the Nice Cream man to give your worsening health any attention.

" _Wait a minute, attention!"_ What this guy really needs is some publicity. Maybe, during monster encounters you can advertise Nice Cream, and see if that works. You tell Flowey to tell your business plan to the Nice Cream guy, and the blue bunny rabbit in question seems excited. He smiles at you truly, for the first time. "That's a great idea kid! If you can get that to work, I can promise you free Nice Cream for life!" He stops awkwardly, and then scratches the back of his neck nervously. "But for now, Nice Cream is 15 gold apiece. Pay up." You smile and fork over the required gold for your treat.

The fuzzy monster hands you an ice cream cup. You take one small lick, and instantly fall in love with it. You store the rest away in your inventory for later. You shakily thank the Nice Cream man and wave goodbye as you continue your trek through the brutal cold of Snowdin Forest.

You cross a short, wooden bridge. You're increasingly fuzzy vision is clear enough for you to notice a very large snowball on the ground. You walk towards the menacing ball of snow and push it with all your might, trying to muster enough determination to move it. You can feel Flowey's eyes gazing at you as you weakly attempt to push the ball through the snowy area. As you push, you hear a dark chuckle not too far from you. Your head snaps up and you see Sans the skeleton standing at the edge of the clearing, chuckling at your failure. You duly note the darkened section of bone where his cheek would be.

You try to glare at him, and for some reason, your weak stare makes him shut up and look away. Unbeknownst to you, Flowey had flashed one of his signature creepy faces at the short skeleton while you had glared at him. That alone was enough to get Sans to quiet down.

You continue to push the snowball, never letting it go. Even with your crumbling DETERMINATION, you manage to somehow get it all the way to the end of the course and push it into the hole. A shimmering red flag pops out of the hole. A voice in your head begins to speak.

 _*(Bravery. Justice. Integrity. Kindness. Perseverance. Patience. Using these, you were able to win at "Ball Game". You are awarded 50G!)_

You feel victorious. Flowey is clapping his leaves as loud as he can. Sans is completely and utterly stunned. You go up to him and show off your prize. He chooses to ignore your outstanding triumph, and nods his head towards the Nice Cream Guy. "i've been thinking about selling treats too." The skeleton grins maliciously. You are filled with dread. "want some fried snow? it's only **50 g**?" He winks and you hear Flowey mutter to you, "Don't even think about it Frisk!"

You're thinking about it.

It's fried snow, which means it'll be warm.

You fork over your winnings from the ball game and demand fried snow. You can hear Flowey slapping a leaf to his face and groaning in disappointment. "I thought I taught you better than this!" Flowey moans. Nevertheless, Sans stares at your money, surprised. "seriously kid?" You nod and make some grabby motions with your hands. Sans shrugs, and gives you a mug of some steaming drink and takes your money. You almost start crying with relief. You profusely thank Sans, who looks confused as hell, and walk away as you examine your drink.

You peer into the mug as you enter the room next to Sans.

 _*(It's literally_ _boiled_ _water_ _!)_ Snaps the voice. You honestly couldn't care less. It was a warm drink, so it would have to do. You take a sip, and sigh as some feeling returns back to your face. Before you know it, the glorious water is gone, leaving only lingering steam in its wake. Oh well. Maybe you could get some more. You discard the plastic mug and look up to observe your surroundings. You spot two nearly identical sentry stations. The only difference between the two is the sign on it. The first one says, * _(His.)"_ The second one states, *( _Hers.)_ Both stations appear to have scratches and bite marks all over them. You wonder what that's all about. Flowey seems to recognize the two stations.

"Aw man! I forgot all about the Dogi!" Flowey rubs the spots where his temples would be if he had them. "Those two have the most dysfunctional marriage in the entire Underground. We're probably going to run into them later, so be prepared for lots or arguing and axes." You file away that information for later. The cold's starting to get to you again, so you leave the area and ask Sans if he has anymore "fried snow". He blinks at you a couple times.

"kid, you sure you ain't joking with me? 'cuz if this is a joke, i'm gettin' real tired of it." You shake your head and hold up another 50 gold. Sans looks almost sorry, but it's hard to tell. "well sorry kid, but i don't have any more." If not for the fact that it was so cold your tear ducts were frozen, you would be crying. As it is, all you can do is sniffle and feel disappointed. You glumly walk away, and Flowey shoots the skeleton a glare behind your back.

Flowey tries to comfort you. "Hey Frisk, it'll be alright! Soon we'll be in Snowdin, and we can get you someplace warm! So, don't be sad okay?" You don't respond. You move past the ball game that you won and see a little ball of snow up ahead.

 _*(It looks like a snowball…_

 _Actually, it's snowdecahedron.)_

In the next room, Papyrus and Sans are waiting for you again. Papyrus turns you, angrier than he was last time.

"AH! SO THE DEVIOUS HUMAN AND YOUR FLOWER FRIEND ARRIVE AGAIN, AFTER TRICKING ME SO UNFAIRLY AT THE LAST TEST! BECAUSE YOU CHEATED, IF YOU ATTEMPT TO CHEAT YOUR WAY OUT OF THIS CHALLENGE," The tall skeleton pauses for dramatic effect. Sans looks away from you again.

"YOU WILL BE IMMEDIATELY DISQUALIFIED, AND SENTENCED TO AN INSTANTANEOUS DEMISE!" *( _Well doesn't that sound fun?)_ The voice, that you're probably hallucinating from the cold, says sarcastically. You look at Papyrus and gesture for him to continue. He forges ahead with his monologue, even more mad. "MY BROTHER SANS CREATED THIS NEXT CHALLENGE FOR YOU AND YOUR YELLOW COMPANION TO SOLVE. HOPEFULLY," he says, looking pointedly at his brother with a glare, "IT WILL CONFOUND YOU!"

You walk forward and notice a word search on the ground. You glance at it, and realize you don't have anything to solve the puzzle with. You look up, and quietly ask Papyrus if he has a pen. He smiles cruelly. "NYEH HEH HEH! AND NOW YOU HAVE COME TO THE TRUE CHALLENGE OF THIS PUZZLE! YOU WILL NEED TO FIND YOUR OWN WRITING UTENSIL… WITHOUT LEAVING THIS AREA! NYEH HEH HEH!" Papyrus seems very pleased with himself, despite not being the one to even set up the puzzle.

You're not sure what to do. You ask Flowey for ideas. Flowey mulls this over. "I don't know Frisk! I mean, if we used some water, we'd have to do it really precisely, and even then we'd need a sharp object…" You suggest one of Flowey's attacks. He considers this. "That might work… Okay! Let's try that!" Flowey summons a sharp, white pellet. As opposed to the green "Friendliness Pellets" that healed you in the fight with Toriel, this one is like the ones that you dodged in your first encounter with Flowey.

"Now we need water…" says Flowey. You gather up some snow in your numb hands. Flowey looks at it and uses the attack to swirl it around and liquify it. The skeleton brothers watch you closely as Flowey dips one end of the bullet into the wet slush. The pellet then travels to the word search. You bend down and begin to search for words. When you mark down the first one, Papyrus interrupts.

"HUMAN! I'M AFRAID THAT I CANNOT ALLOW YOU TO CONTINUE THIS WAY! IF YOU MARK ALL OF THE WORDS WITH WATER, THEY'LL DRY UP AND THEN I WON'T BE ABLE TO SEE THEM! YOU HAVE TO EITHER FIND ANOTHER SUBSTANCE TO COMPLETE THE PUZZLE WITH, OR FORFEIT YOUR SOUL THIS INSTANT!" You slam your frozen face into your cold hands and let out a small frustrated noise. Flowey groans angrily.

Papyrus laughs again, confident that you'll surrender. And you almost do, but then realize that you're a human. You tug at one of Flowey's petals and whisper the idea to him. He gasps, and immediately shoots it down, but you are persistent and DETERMINED. You don't _want_ to have to give up your SOUL to a creepy skeleton dude because of some seemingly impossible puzzle. After a lot of whispered arguing, Flowey finally relents.

You grab the bullet out of the air. Because your SOUL hasn't been called out, the little white pellet doesn't do any damage to you. You decide to change that. Flowey cringes and you wince as you prick the tip of your pointer finger with the bullet's sharp end. Slowly but surely, blood leaks out of your finger, some dripping onto the snow below. The small drop turns the snow it drips on pink. Your hand trembling, you slowly complete the wordsearch with your blood. It takes you a while, and you have to keep slicing your finger to make the blood continue dripping out.

When you finish, you feel disoriented at the sight of your own blood on the paper. Regardless of your dizziness, you show the finished puzzle to Sans and Papyrus. The brothers had been silent as you worked on the puzzle, staring at you in horrified fascination. Papyrus scans the puzzle quickly, working hard to avoid touching the wet blood.

"I… I SUPPOSE THAT THIS IS ACCEPTABLE. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, ALLOW YOU ACCESS TO THE NEXT PUZZLE! NYEH! HEH! … HEH?" The creeped out skeleton quickly hurried away. That leaves you and Flowey at the mercy of Sans. The shorter skeleton turns to you and points at your finger.

"i gotta say kiddo, that was a pretty intense way to solve a little ol' wordsearch. are you… you alright?" You nod your head. You're fairly sure that you didn't suffer any loss of HP, because your SOUL isn't damaged, and neither were any of your vitals. Sans accepts your answer skeptically. "alright kid, stay safe out there 'kay? as much as i hate to admit it, i did promise to keep you safe out here. i'd hate to break a promise now." You hold back from rolling your eyes. Sans really does care about you, somewhere, in the deepest parts of his SOUL.

You nod again and move past him to the next room. You spot a plate of spaghetti with an assisting fork on a very out of place table. You move forward to take a closer look. Upon closer inspection, the voice describes the spaghetti.

 _*(It's a plate of frozen spaghetti. It's so cold, it's stuck to the table.)_

Well that's slightly disappointing. You're feeling kind of peckish right now. You then examine the microwave to see if you can heat it up somehow.

 _*(It's an unplugged microwave.)_ Oh well. You wonder who put the food out here in the first place. You then realize that you skipped over a small piece of parchment that was on the ground. You pick it up and do a quick once over of the very… demanding, font. Flowey reads it aloud in his best impression of the note's writer. He clears his throat. _*(Can flowers have throats?)_ He begins to read,

 **HUMAN! THIS IS A PLATE OF AN EXQUISITE DISH KNOWN AS, SPAGHETTI. I DEMAND THAT YOU TRY SOME.**

At the bottom, written in the same font but not as bolded, reads, (LITTLE DO YOU KNOW, THIS SPAGHETTI IS A TRAP! DESIGNED TO ENTICE YOU! YOU'LL BE SO BUSY EATING IT, THAT YOU WON'T NOTICE THE POISON SETTING IN! THEN YOU'LL FINALLY BE THWARTED BY THE GREAT PAPYRUS!)

 _*(How fucking stupid_ _is_ _this guy?)_

You almost chide the voice, but you aren't quite ready to fully accept your madness just yet. You look behind the tables and see a cute little mouse hole. You hear a faint squeaking noise and smile a bit.

 _*(Knowing that the mouse is intelligent enough to avoid such an obvious trap…_ _should_ _fill you with DETERMINATION…)_

But for some reason, it doesn't. You cannot find it within yourself to SAVE. Flowey seems to notice from atop your head. "Hey Frisk… you'll be ok! The sooner we get out of Snowdin, the sooner you get your DETERMINATION back! You just have to use what you have and keep moving, got it?"

You nod, and forge ahead, with a yellow flower on your head, and a sarcastic voice in your ears.

You're never going to make it out of here, are you?

* * *

 **¯\\_(** **ツ** **)_/¯ Who knows!** **Oh wait… I do** **!**

 **Also, is anyone interested in beta reading this story? If you are, contact me through PM or my Tumblr, lea - valdez . tumblr .com !**


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